Former AFC Fylde man admits to injuring a team-mate in a bid to play for Liverpool

Former AFC Fylde player Tom Brewitt has admitted to injuring a team-mate during training in an attempt to earn first-team selection with Liverpool.
Tom Brewitt was at AFC Fylde before joining Morecambe   Picture: Steve McLellanTom Brewitt was at AFC Fylde before joining Morecambe   Picture: Steve McLellan
Tom Brewitt was at AFC Fylde before joining Morecambe Picture: Steve McLellan

The incident in question took place while Brewitt was a youngster at Anfield, ahead of their FA Cup tie against Exeter City in the 2015/16 season.

It was a period when several of the Reds’ central defenders were injured, apparently leading Brewitt to believe he had a chance of being involved - but he faced competition from team-mate Daniel Cleary.

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However, Brewitt - who was released by Morecambe at the end of last season - was unaware that Anfield boss Jurgen Klopp had planned to play full-back Jose Enrique in the centre of defence and recall Tiago Ilori from a loan spell at Aston Villa.

The Liverpool Echo report Brewitt as telling the Football Journeys Podcast: “We didn’t know that until the first week of January, so running up to the back end of December, it was me or Dan Cleary, who in my head was going to make their debut for Liverpool's first team in this game.

“Me and Dan always got on to be honest, but I think I ended this relationship. I took the decision, it was me or him, so I went after him in training.

“Before Christmas and the time between Christmas and New Year, I put myself next to him in possession games, I put myself next to him in games, and I just kicked him.

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“I wasn’t trying to hurt him badly but I was trying to hurt him enough so he was out the way and I would play.

“It was about a week before the Exeter game and I took a bit of a heavy touch in a seven-a-side and he’s come in to tackle me.

“I waited a split second too long and absolutely topped him, went over the ball, it was a bad tackle - I knew it was a bad tackle, I did it on purpose and I’m not incredibly proud of it.

“I’m not ashamed of it, either, because in my head it was me or him and I was choosing me.

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“I believed it was written in the stars for me to make my debut that day, so whatever it took to do it, I was going to do it.

“If that meant hurting someone or ruining a relationship I had, I was going to do it.

“People might look at it and say ‘well you’re this’ or ‘you’re that’ but I was just desperate to play for Liverpool and that’s all I wanted to do.”

As it turned out, Brewitt didn’t feature against Exeter as he sustained an injury a few days beforehand - ironically against Morecambe.

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Brewitt then left Liverpool in 2017 to join Middlesbrough, spending a year with them before moving to the Coasters and then heading to Morecambe in the summer of 2019.

He made 27 appearances for the Shrimps, scoring two goals, before being let go following the curtailment of the 2019/20 season.