Ex-Hatter Dean Brill can look back on his career with real pride

Former Luton stopper Dean Brill was able to reflect on his career with real pride after calling a halt to his playing days earlier this season.

The 34-year-old, who made 109 appearances during two spells at Kenilworth Road, including winning the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy in 2009, had a number of special moments during his time between the posts, which lasted over 400 games.

Brill came through the ranks with Town, making his debut as a 17-year-old, coming off the bench with 20 minutes to go at Oldham Athletic when Rob Beckwith had been sent off in a 3-0 defeat back in September 2003.

He spent the next seven years at Luton as the club reached the Championship, while also turned out for Gillingham, Oldham, Barnet, Luton again, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Motherwell, Colchester and Leyton Orient, who he joined in July 2017.

Brill reached his 400-game milestone in November 2019, and speaking exclusively to the Luton News, the Luton-born stopper said: “I’m very proud to have the career I’ve had.

“It’s every boy’s young dream to even make one professional game, so to go on and play over 400, play in the Scottish Premier League, play in the Championship, play at Anfield and Celtic Park, it’s stuff where you’re younger you don’t really think about, the landmarks of your career.

“But when you get to the end of it, you do look back and you can be proud of it.

“I’ve had good, bad and indifferent experiences and lived every young boy’s dream.

“The 400 starts was something I’m really proud of and luckily enough my kids have been able to be at games and see that, they know that.

"It’s a memento and something I’ll treasure forever now.”

When asked about his time with the Hatters, which had plenty of ups and downs to it, Brill continued: "I remember my first season as a youth player, we got promoted, they’d been promoted the year before and then we got promoted again from League One into the Championship.

"We had two years in the Championship, the first season we finished 10th and the first four years were fantastic.

"We were really on an upward curve, we had a great squad, some real good pros.

"I’ll always refer back to that as they really helped me have the career I’ve had, and others would stay the same.

"Your Chris Coyne’s and your Steve Howard’s and your Nico's (Kevin Nicholls), who I still see regularly, Springy (Matthew Spring) was there, Emmerson Boyce, all great pros.

“Marlon Beresford was fantastic too, the best.

"I still speak to him a lot about goalkeeping, he only lives around the corner, so I learned a lot from him.

"The first few years were really good, really positive, we reached the Championship and did really well, but then the last few years were dictated by finances, which is a real shame for any club, and we all know what happened after that."

Brill did return to Kenilworth Road at the start of the 2012-13 campaign, signed by Paul Buckle, when the Hatters were in the Conference, playing a further 12 times.

Town couldn't engineer a way back into the league that term, as the keeper realised quickly how hard a task the club had on their hands.

He said: "I remember it well at Luton, you’re the big boys and anybody who comes to you, it’s a big day out.

"It’s the one everyone looks forward to when the fixtures are out, everybody raíses their game and everybody plays better.

"At Luton it was that turnaround point again where it was so hard to get the right people in to be able to deal with that.

"It’s such a big club that you need the right characters to be able to deal with the weight of expectation and there is an expectation to get out of that league.

"At Luton, the second time I went back, it was still in a bit of a change, but then John Still came in and won the league, which is probably the biggest thing.

"He knew the league and he knew how to get out of the league.

"That was a big, big turning point, I saw that once he came in, there was only one way the club was going to go."

Brill did manage to secure another promotion on his CV though last term, as he was an ever-present for Orient on their way to the National League title.

He also made had 20 appearances for the O's in League Two this season, but on why he decided to hang his gloves up, he added: “I was quite unlucky up in Scotland where I was having a good time and then got a really serious knee injury.

"That kind of stopped me at about 30, which meant I had to go into the coaching side earlier, so I joined (Orient) as goalkeeper coach initially, two and a half years ago.

“Justin (Edinburgh) came in and said he wanted the experienced one to play and he’d like me to do the job.

“We went on and won the league (Conference), so that was another real good story to tell.

“Justin passed in the summer which was tragic, tough for everyone to deal with, we came up into League Two and started all right.

“I did okay, but just before Christmas, I had had a recurrent shoulder injury for the last 12 months.

“It was really hampering me so I was in discussions to go back on the coaching side anyway.

"Then one of my last training sessions before I made the transition, I ruptured my hamstring, so I’ve had an operation on that.

“I’m on the coaching staff, I’m learning my trade and enjoying that.

"You get to a point in your career as a goalkeeper where that experience is invaluable, all the good, bad and indifferent times I’ve had before that.

It’s another avenue to go down and something I can draw on, 400 games, and hopefully pass some knowledge on."