Ex-Aberdeen striker Craig Brewster on going full-time at 26, his Greek football experience and why he's now passing on the lessons of his career to the next generation

Press and Journal

23-04-2025

Few players epitomise more than Craig Brewster why you should never give up.
Brewster's dream of being a professional footballer was shattered when his boyhood club Dundee United opted against offering him a contract.
But the Dundonian was nothing if not determined and he duly dropped to the juniors before working his way back up the ranks and finally earning his shot at full-time football in his mid-twenties.
The epitome of better late than never, Brewster reinvented himself as a Scottish Cup winning hero for the Tangerines and became a trailblazing Scot as he played abroad.
He then returned to Scotland with a renewed focus which saw him extend his career into his 40s and move into management.
Brewster regards his five year stint at Ionikos as a significant moment of his career.
He said: 'Playing for a living was the best job in the world.
'Everyone focuses on good habits, doing the right thing and pushing yourself and seeing where it can take you.
'But you have to have that desire to really be the best you can.
'I had an opportunity when I was a Bosman to go and experience Greece and it turned out to be a great opportunity for me.
'I didn't go full-time until I was 26. I was part-time for eight and a half years and it's a long time.
'I think people forget that but it's why I had the energy and the desire in my late 20s into my 30s that I didn't want it to end.
'I look back at those days and they keep getting longer but I've loved all of it.'
Brewster's professionalism is what led to him joining Aberdeen as a player after losing his job as manager at Tannadice in 2007.
It was a chance to reunite with Jimmy Calderwood, who had been his boss at Dunfermline, and although his time with the Dons lasted only months it is clear it left an impression.
He said: 'Jimmy Calderwood gave me a path back into the game after I left Dundee United and while my time there was brief it was great.
'The race for Europe was a good memory from my time at Aberdeen.
'I set-up Barry Nicholson for his goal and then he got sent off for taking his shirt off to celebrate.
'If you can't celebrate scoring a goal which secures Europe, what chance have you got?'
Brewster's time at Pittodrie was cut short due to his other passion – management.
When Caley Thistle came calling to bring him back to the Highlands it proved an opportunity he simply could not turn down.
The second spell did not match the first stint at Caledonian Stadium, but he insists the five years of management experience with Caley Thistle in two spells, and United to boot, as well as his tenure as player-assistant boss at Ross County, served him well.
Relocating to England for a fresh start as a coach at Crawley Town in 2011 has led to a new chapter in English football for the former striker who has settled in West Sussex with his family.
He said: 'I did my coaching badges while I was still playing at Dunfermline and suddenly went into management at Inverness and it couldn't have gone any better as my first job in management.
'There were a lot of highs and a lot of lows and sometimes I look back and think maybe I should have held on longer in Scotland for another manager's job after leaving Inverness the second time.
'But I've enjoyed my time in England and I'm happy to help people along their way as I'm doing now.'
That same dedication and desire to succeed in the game is what Brewster, 58, is now instilling in Horsham, some 31 miles southwest of London.
Since leaving Plymouth Argyle in 2018 after his contract was not renewed, Brewster has spent his time with Horsham, who play in the Isthmian League Premier Division, and running his own football academy in the area.
His time with the youth set-up at the non-league club is coming to an end but the work in developing young players in the area continues.
Brewster said: 'When I finished at Plymouth in 2018 the local club here, Horsham, got in touch and asked if I would come on board as their director of football.
'I said yes but four months later Covid struck so the role came to an end pretty quickly.
'When we all came out of the pandemic, they came back to me asking if I would be their head of youth and I said yes. That was a role which I felt a lot more comfortable in.'
Whether it was by accident or design, it is clear Brewster has found himself in an area where he feels he can put his coaching experience to good use.
It's a calling he feels passionately about.
Brewster said: 'Horsham is 20 minutes from Gatwick and 25 miles north of Brighton so there's not a lot of senior clubs around.
'Brighton is obviously one and Crystal Palace would be the next one after that.
'That's when I set up my own academy, CB Pro Coaching. It's nearly five years down the line and I love it.
'We work with youngsters from the age of eight to 15 and I get a real buzz from seeing the kids improve.
'I've had a couple of lads go to Brighton and I've had four girls go to the women's youth set-up at Brighton too.
'My big thing is trying to push them and see where they can get to. That's my only goal and it's a great feeling when you see them get a chance.
'I know the name of every kid we have and when they come down that path and I hear the footsteps running down it gives me such a buzz.
'They love their football and it's great to see the progress they make.'
He will celebrate his 60th birthday next year but given his lengthy tenure in England it seems unlikely a return to Scottish football is in the Dundonian's immediate future.
If his career proves anything, it's that you can never say never, but Brewster seems content where he is.
He said: 'It's not all about me anymore. I've got I've got a 12-year-old daughter and two stepsons, and they're they're comfortable and happy where we live.
'I've worked at Crawley, with the kids at Brighton and at Plymouth and enjoyed it all but I'm not a youngster now.
'I'd like to still think there's life in the old dog but seeing the younger ones improve and progress is my cause nowadays.
'We've been in England a long time. It's 14 years we've been down the road.
'I've been with Horsham Youth for the last five or six years and that is now just coming to an end but my academy has been going nearly five years now.
'It's going really well so long may it continue.'