50 Facts About Eric Brook

Eric Fred Brook was an English footballer who played in the outside left position.

Eric Brook was a muscular player with 'one of the fiercest shots in pre-war football' and was a good penalty taker.

Eric Brook has been described 'as a brilliant roving forward for Manchester City and England' and 'one of the great names of British football'.

Eric Brook was born in the Yorkshire town of Mexborough in 1907.

Eric Brook began his football career, as an outside left, playing for local teams including Mexborough and Deame Valley Old Boys.

Eric Brook signed for Wath Athletic, who played in the Midland Football League, in 1925.

Eric Brook began his professional football career with nearby Barnsley in 1926.

Eric Brook has been described as an 'unorthodox' outside left 'with a licence to roam'.

Eric Brook treated the left wing as 'a home to look in on'.

Eric Brook replaced an injured goalkeeper on at least three occasions over the course of his career.

Eric Brook played 78 times for Barnsley and scored 18 goals.

Eric Brook quickly became an ever present in the Barnsley team and was described as a young and clever outside-left.

Eric Brook's performances provoked interest from teams in the First Division.

Eric Brook was described as 'on the small side' but 'a clever winger'.

Eric Brook often played in the centre forward position for his club, roaming the pitch, which later drew comparisons with Don Revie and Nandor Hidegkuti in this position.

Eric Brook played in consecutive FA Cup finals in the mid-1930s, collecting a winners medal on the second occasion.

Eric Brook set up Tilson, to score City's fourth goal in the game against Bolton.

Eric Brook contended that to succeed at outside left, a player should use 'plenty of tricks' and be 'cunning, deceptive, speedy and accurate'.

Eric Brook scored a 'wonder goal' in front of a record crowd of 84,569 against Stoke City in the sixth round of that year's competition.

Eric Brook had made 'a speculative lob' from the wing, which seemed to change direction in mid-flight, which curled past Stoke goalkeeper Roy John.

Some claimed that Eric Brook's lob was a cross, but those who knew Eric Brook said it was the type of unconventional thing he would try.

The FA Cup winning City team included goalkeeper Frank Swift and left half Jackie Bray, who would both emulate Eric Brook by going on to appear for England.

One journalist stated that Eric Brook 'gave a wonderful exhibition' in the game 'hitting the moving ball with uncanny precision across the Town goal' and that 'no winger makes his centres so quickly, and no winger roams so much and to such good purport'.

Eric Brook scored the first of his two goals in this game with a 'sizzling drive' which was described by one report as 'not so much a goal as a piece of forked lightning'.

Eric Brook scored 20 goals in this season and was the club's second highest scorer behind Peter Doherty who scored 30.

Eric Brook was the highest scoring winger in the league that season.

Eric Brook was described as having had a 'splendid game, roving all over the field'.

In December 1937 Eric Brook underwent an operation for acute appendicitis and returned to training at Manchester City within a month.

In over eleven years with Manchester City, Eric Brook scored 177 goals in 494 appearances.

Eric Brook was the all-time highest Manchester City goalscorer until his tally was equalled and then surpassed by Sergio Aguero in 2017.

Eric Brook retained the record for most league goals for City until 2019.

Eric Brook held the record of having scored the most goals for England of any Manchester City player.

Eric Brook went on to play for England a total of 18 times, scoring 10 goals.

Eric Brook struck the ball from his free kick 'so hard that the ball rebounded from the net back on to the field'.

Eric Brook scored his first goal by heading the ball past Carlo Ceresoli after a precise cross from Stanley Matthews, and his second from a free kick which Matthews described as being like a 'thunderbolt'.

Eric Brook finished the first half with a shoulder injury while Ted Drake had two black eyes.

Eric Brook is only one of four England players to have scored more than one goal in a game against Italy, the others being Mick Channon, Gerry Hitchens and Tom Finney.

Eric Brook was one of three City players who appeared for England against Wales and then Ireland, the other two being Jackie Bray and Fred Tilson.

Eric Brook scored for the Rest of England in a trial match against the national team in March 1935.

Eric Brook replaced Stoke City's Joe Johnson in the team when he withdrew from the squad due to an injury.

One journalist stated that Eric Brook was 'elusive and full of energy' within the game and that 'his roving commission frequently misleads defences'.

Czechoslovakia's football officials expressed regret that Eric Brook was not able to play.

One journalist was not surprised by Eric Brook's recall to the England team in 1939, stating that 'I have seen all the English forwards lately, and he was the best of the lot'.

Eric Brook won two wartime caps in games against Wales and South Africa in 1939.

In 1940, Eric Brook was selected to represent England in a wartime international against Scotland.

In contrast to many of his England teammates, following the war, Eric Brook became a coach driver in his home town of Mexborough.

Eric Brook died at home in Wythenshawe in March 1965.

Eric Brook is regarded as one of the finest players to have graced the English game and has been inducted into the Manchester City Hall of Fame.

Eric Brook is listed as the eighth greatest ever City player on the Times website, seventh in Ian Penney's book The Essential History of Manchester City and fourth in the Manchester Evening News.

In 2018 Eric Brook was honoured with a plaque in his home town of Mexborough.