White Eagles continue to soar under ‘Bomber’

Brian ‘Bomber’ Brown has become a household name for football supporters in New South Wales.

He is now into his sixth season at the Bonnyrigg White Eagles with assistant Cliff Pointer after successful spells with Blacktown City and the Sutherland Sharks.

Starting slightly slower than previous seasons, Where the White Eagles won premierships and contested in grand finals, the Reds have enjoyed a good spell of results over the last month.

The popular ’Bomber’ is not worried about the season and is confident his side will come good when it matters most.

“I think come that time when everyone needs to be firing, we’ll be firing.”

Brown does admit it will be hard to catch the Spartans this season but says his boys won’t stop fighting till there is any chance of claiming first place.

“You always think you can catch them until the ladder says you can’t.”

The White Eagles claimed two massive signings over the last couple of weeks, signing club junior and former Melbourne Heart defender David Vrankovic as well as Northern Irishman and former Sydney FC captain, Terry McFlynn.

Bomber can’t hide his delight at being able to sign these two and says he is extremely excited at the prospect of having them on board with the club.

“These guys will help the team and the club go forward.”

“They are two massive signings for the club and for two different reasons.”

“Terry McFlynn has been and done it in the A-League all with one club (Sydney FC), he can’t do anymore than he’s done, he’s loyal, he was there nine years and he holds the clubs record for first team appearances.”

“What he brings to this clubs is discipline and organisation skills on the field which were evident right away at training as he was organising and guiding his new teammates.”

Brown has a high opinion on Vrankovic and believes the youngster could become a star.

“When David was here as a younger boy, he showed enormous potential in being one of the best young players I’ve worked with. Purely and simply because of his attitude and application, you never need to ask him to work hard because it’s just a given.”

“I think he has an enormous talent that I don’t think everyone has seen yet and he just maybe needs to sort a few things out first to get himself back in the A-League which is the next step from here.”

When asked does he believe that David has the quality to play in Australia’s top competition, he had no doubt over his answer.

“I believe he can play in the A-League, he’s still a young boy and a key thing for him is getting over the disappointment of not being at Melbourne Heart which isn’t easy.”

As for McFlynn, he comes with a different pedigree, a proven winner and fighter with Sydney FC who has international experience with Northern Ireland. So it was possibly one of the most high profile signings in the league and the question many asked was, why Bonnyrigg?

“Well because him and I are good friends,” Brown said with a laugh.

“Terry wants to win, he’s a winner and we made it clear in our conversation that that’s what Cliff and I want for this club and that’s one of the great things about being at Bonnyrigg because everyone wants to win here.”

Brown says McFlynn has already changed the attitude at training and he will most certainly have a positive effect on the park.

“A couple have already come up to me and told me what a legend the guy is and created a positive atmosphere.”

“He came off the bench against the Blacktown Demons and showed straight away that football is a simple game if you do it simple and it’s a pleasure to have someone like him here.”

The acquisition of the former Sydney FC captain, Brown believes will help the up and coming youngsters at the club, who he says there are an array of.

“The young ones are doing well, Dylan Fox , Mitchell Osmond ,Steven Ilic , Alex Doyle and Tarek Ercan. So far have done exceptionally well when given the chance to play first grade.”

“I think the futures good.”

Bomber says that Cliff and himself came into the job at Bonnyrigg with results as a priority with the vocal home support expecting.

“When I first came here It was all about first grade and that was my priority otherwise you’d be gone.”

“It’s an interesting challenge here, we’ve won the league twice, played in three grand finals and won one. At most clubs that would be seen as an outstanding achievement.”

“When you’re sitting in fourth spot at a club like Bonnyrigg and you lose, it’s like getting 10 knives stuck in to you.” 

“The supporters can rest assured that we want to win as well.”

Now though, Brown says things have changed and the club can focus more on youth and development.

“It takes time to build it up and I think our next challenge is to build for the future and put more focus toward the youth.”

“I’d like to help the coaches here now and any young coach so that when I say to Cliff I’m out of here to spend time with my family, the foundations are already set.”

He also believes that the White Eagles have an opportunity to be the leader at this level.

“We’ve now built a repour here, I’d really like to build this club and make it the best at this level.”

-By Nikola Pozder