Bradford Bulldogs coach Andy Brown relishing World Championships golden shot with Great Britain Under-18s

On Saturday afternoon, Brown’s Bradford Bulldogs’ team will skate out at the city’s Little Horton Lane rink to face-off against Sutton Sting in their last match of the season in the NIHL North Two (Laidler) division – effectively the fourth tier of the English game.

But Brown will be just over 1,800 miles away in the Estonian capital of Tallinn, helping GB Under-18s head coach Sean Easton and fellow assistant Martin Grubb put the teenagers in their charge through final preparations for tomorrow’s Division 2A opener against the hosts.

The majority of Brown’s year is taken up by coaching at the city’s ice rink on Little Horton Lane. As well as running the Senior team, 44-year-old Brown also oversees the club’s thriving junior section, which takes on kids from six-years-old upwards, with teams ranging from Under-10s through to Under-18s.

In recent years, it has helped turn out some of the country’s top young prospects, including Brown’s own son Kieran, now plying his trade with nearby Leeds Knights in NIHL National but having previously spent three years with Elite League giants Sheffield Steelers, the first two as part of a groundbreaking apprenticeship scheme.

Other players to come through the Bradford system include Brown Junior’s Knights’ team-mates Adam Barnes, Lewis Baldwin, Bobby Streetly and Jordan Griffin, as well as Sheffield Steelers’ teenage forward Alex Graham and Manchester Storm forward Jacob Lutwyche.

Brown acknowledges the difference between the ‘day job’ at Bradford and working with some of the most talented young players in the country. But any time he spends with the GB programme - whether it be a two-day training camp in Sheffield or a week-long tournament abroad - he believes can only benefit the club closest to his heart.

“Obviously, it’s not like these GB Under-18s are going to come in and play for Bradford at senior level, but the experiences that I gain, I can pass on to the players at Bradford at all levels,” he said. “What I bring back from experiences and tournaments like this one can only be a good thing.

“I’ve worked with Sean at England level, I like how he coaches and I think our coaching styles complement each other well. Yes it’s a step up in coaching for me but certainly not a step beyond what I can do.

“You’re always developing as a coach, at whatever level you coach at, you are always learning, always improving, finding new things - whether that be at a youngsters beginners’ session at Bradford or coaching at GB level - there is always something that you’ll think of or you’ll see and you can take on board.

“I’ve got no aspirations to coach at a higher level, I want to stay at Bradford but working with guys like Sean progresses me as a coach. Yes, I’m learning from them but, hopefully, I can teach them a few things as well.”

The GB party flew out to Finland earlier this week for a final training camp, with part of their final preparations in Helsinki including two warm-up games against opposition. Wednesday saw them beat Grankulla IFK 9-3 in Malmi Arena on Wednesday before a 4-3 defeat at the hands of K-Espoo Blues.

The team offers plenty of Yorkshire interest, including Doncaster-born former Bulldogs’ junior netminder Ben Norton, while fellow goalie Alex Oldale hails from Sheffield. Defenceman Archie Hazeldine has excelled in his first full season of senior hockey in NIHL National at Leeds Knights, while Mack Stewart and Carter Hamill – who have both iced for the West Yorkshire team – are also on the roster.

The team had one last practice session on Friday before departing for Estonia, where they will also face-off against Romania, Korea and Serbia before ending their tournament on Saturday, April 9 against Lithuania.

Having been relegated from Division 1B three years ago in Hungary on the final day of the tournament - Brown Jnr, Griffin, Graham and Lutwyche were all part of that roster - GB are determined to secure a return at the first available opportunity, all lower level IIHF World Championship events having been cancelled since the start of the global coronavirus pandemic.

“You’ve got to be excited,” said Brown, who moved up to the Under-18s from a similar position with the Under-16s back in November 2020. “It’s my first trip away as a GB coach because we didn’t get away with the Under-16s due to Covid.

“And this is a World Championships, so there is extra anticipation, plenty of excitement and there is probably a bit more pressure on. I’m definitely looking forward to it – it’s obviously an honour to represent your country.”

Expectations are high for the GB team, who are fully aware that only a gold-medal finish will earn them the desired promotion. But Brown believes he is involved with a highly-skilled group of players capable of meeting those expectations.

“Selection was really difficult, it is a really strong year,” added Brown. “I’m really excited about seeing how they play. There were a lot of players who were certainly good enough to make the team and are not in, but there was a lot of talent to choose from and it was probably the most difficult selection process that I’ve ever been involved with.

“We’ve selected a strong team, one that I believe stands a really good chance of going there and getting gold. If they perform to the level that we know they can then I think we stand a very good chance of being successful.

“So we’re probably going out there as favourites, confident in our abilities but aware that all it takes is one bad game, one bad period, or somewhere down the line we switch off, we go to sleep, take a couple of bad penalties and, suddenly, you’re in a relegation battle rather than being in with a chance of a gold medal.”

Easton is happy to have Brown on board, giving him specific responsibility for the team’s defensive unit, which includes Leeds Knights’ Archie Hazeldine.

“Andy is great,” said Easton. “He’s got good experience, a very calm head and pretty rational thinking. I’ve known Andy a long time, I’ve coached Kieran before and I’ve now coached against Kieran.

“He’s a great guy, easy to work with and he really knows his stuff. He’s calm in difficult situations, he’s got a level head on him and his man-management of players is very good.”