THE NOMADIC STRIKER — KRIS BRIGHT

I would like to share with you a story about a young aspiring kiwi footballer whose determination and desire to play professional football was unique and outstanding to say the least. I was lucky enough to grow up alongside him and we were involved in numerous NZ age group teams throughout our younger years. He has gone on to play professionally for 14 Pro clubs in 10 different countries. I would put a lot of this down to his dedication and hard work as a kid growing up in South Auckland. Sure he had a lot of talent as a youngster but talent alone isn’t enough if you want to make a career out of the game as many other young kiwi’s, myself included, found out the hard way.
Kris William Bright was born in South Auckland, New Zealand, on September 5th 1986 to Donna and Dave Bright. He spent much of his youth at Manurewa FC (South Auckland) and attended Auckland Grammar School in Epsom. He was selected for both NZ U-17’s and U-20 national teams but his first big break came when he was approached to be one of three full-time apprentice’s at the New Zealand Knights in the Hyundai A-league’s debut season. He went on to play 11 games that year for the Knights scoring one goal.
After getting a taste for what professional football has to offer, Bright was off on his first of many overseas adventures as he was invited to play in a trial match for Fortuna Sittard from the Dutch first division against FC Geleen-Zuid and scoring in the game, impressing the coach enough to sign a one-year contract with the option of a second year. They provided an apartment, a car and all the basic necessities that allowed him to concentrate on football. He took lessons in the language and now rates his Dutch as pretty good.
The training was very technical and he participated in regular extra sessions to try to accelerate his development. Bright played 11 games scoring 1 goal but unfortunately, a relatively minor knee injury was misdiagnosed forcing him to miss a number of games. When he eventually returned the season was almost over and Bright to his disappointment was only offered a trial over the summer if he wanted to earn a new contract. Norwegian second division side Kristiansund BK expressed an interest in Bright and while his current club were weighing up an offer, Bright got on a flight to Norway to meet the coach. He signed a one-year deal at the club after realising the style of football was more robust than in Holland and the training more physical but it was good for his development. Bright went on to score 28 goals in 24 games for Kristiansund BK and was close to securing a deal with top flight side Stabaek but ironically broke his leg against Stabaek in a friendly match which put his career on hold for a year. Credit to Bright’s attitude and desire to keep doing what he loved, he spent a year working hard on his rehab and once he was back in the Kristiansund side he caught the eye of a scout from Greek super league side Panaseriakos which turned into an 18-month contract he couldn’t turn down. He was hoping this would be his big break and a chance to play in a European top league but it wasn’t what he had hoped. Unpaid wages and lack of communication with players not being able to speak the same language caused Bright to leave the club by mutual consent with a year left on his contract playing just 7 games and scoring one goal for the club.
Bright spent the English summer trialling with Norwich City hoping to secure a deal but with nothing concrete on the table, he was offered a trial game with League two side Shrewsbury town against Tranmere and impressed then first-team coach Paul Simpson. After 70 minutes he was substituted and told to wait in the sheds for him. After the game, the Shrewsbury coach drove Bright back to the teams ground and signed him straight away. Unfortunately, a mix up from his previous club Panaseriakos when faxing through his transfer led to him missing their first game of the season at home to Burton Albion. One of the club’s other strikers Dave Hibbert went on to score in the club’s first three games keeping Bright on the bench and itching for a chance to play. He ended up playing 27 games for the shrews (22 off the bench) in total, scoring 3 goals.
