1. James Gerald Brennan was born on 8 May 1977 and is a Canadian soccer coach, analyst and former player.
35 Facts About Jim Brennan
1. 2.
Jim Brennan earned 49 caps for the Canadian national team, was a member of the Canada side which won the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup, and later represented his country at the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup, the 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup and the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
3.
Jim Brennan was inducted into the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame in November 2015.
4.
In 5 years Jim Brennan had five managers including Russell Osman, Benny Lennartsson, Joe Jordan, John Ward and Tony Pulis.
5.
In 64 first-team appearances for City over five seasons, Jim Brennan scored three goals.
6.
Jim Brennan started his career in the Bristol City youth team and worked his way into the first team before being sold to Nottingham Forest.
7.
Jim Brennan was the first Canadian-born player to be sold over the 1 million pound mark.
8.
Jim Brennan joined Norwich City on a free Bosman transfer in 2003 and was managed by Nigel Worthington.
9.
Jim Brennan's goals came against Everton in the FA Cup and Coventry City in the league.
10.
Jim Brennan joined George Burley at Southampton on 27 January 2006 with his contract due to expire in summer having failed to make an impact on the Norwich first team after a series of injuries.
11.
On 8 September 2006, Jim Brennan signed with MLS team Toronto FC for the 2007 season, becoming the first player and captain in club history.
12.
Jim Brennan remained captain under Mo Johnston, John Carver, Chris Cummins and Preki.
13.
Jim Brennan became the first Canadian to score for Toronto FC, registering a goal off a free kick against the Columbus Crew on 26 May 2007.
14.
Jim Brennan went on to play 27 games, all of them starts, for Toronto FC, the most of any player.
15.
Jim Brennan earned a reputation as Toronto's "Iron Man," as he managed to play many of his games despite a rib injury, and looked as though he would go on to play every match of the season.
16.
Unfortunately, a knee injury prevented Jim Brennan from achieving this feat.
17.
Jim Brennan retained the captaincy for the 2008 season, and nearly managed to score in his team's opening match.
18.
Jim Brennan has since added goals in 2008 against Chivas USA in Carson, California and to open the 2009 season at Kansas City, off pass from newly acquired Canadian international teammate Dwayne De Rosario.
19.
Jim Brennan made an appearance during the 2008 MLS All-Star game in his home stadium, BMO Field.
20.
On 6 April 2010 Jim Brennan retired as player to become the assistant general manager for Toronto FC.
21.
Jim Brennan played at the 1993 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Japan, in a team alongside Paul Stalteri and Jason Bent.
22.
Jim Brennan then made his senior debut for Canada in an April 1999 friendly match against Northern Ireland and went on to earn a total of 49 caps, scoring 6 goals.
23.
Jim Brennan has represented Canada in 10 FIFA World Cup qualification matches.
24.
Jim Brennan has played for Canada at the Confederations Cup 2001 and played against Brazil, Cameroon and hosts Japan as well he competed at the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
25.
Jim Brennan won a gold medal in the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup defeating Colombia and bronze medal in the 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup defeating South Korea.
26.
However following the firing of Johnston in the late 2010 season, Jim Brennan's position remained unknown with the club until the new management team was put in place.
27.
On 14 May 2012, Jim Brennan was promoted to first-team assistant coach under Aron Winter.
28.
On 28 September 2013, Jim Brennan filled in for Toronto FC head coach Ryan Nelsen who was serving a suspension.
29.
In March 2015, Jim Brennan became the executive director and director of soccer operations at the Aurora Youth Soccer Club.
30.
Jim Brennan created Aurora FC's slogan One Style, One Passion.
31.
Jim Brennan coached his sons' 2008 Boys team for about 4 years.
32.
Jim Brennan stopped coaching the 2008 boys in late December 2018.
33.
In 2018, Jim Brennan joined Carlo Baldassarra and Preben Ganzhorn to found the company that owns the Canadian Premier League club York9 FC.
34.
On 27 July 2018, York9 FC announced Jim Brennan would serve as the club's first head coach as well as executive vice president of soccer operations.
35.
Jim Brennan's father is from Ireland, while his mother is from Scotland.