The Wolves striker who went from 'Premier League to prison' on re-building his life, giving back and making a difference
Michael Branch had just been sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to drugs offences. He was being transported back to HMP Altcourse, but, this time, the prison van took a different route to his previous court appearances during four months spent on remand.
In the small part of the outside world he could view from the window, he caught sight of the unmistakable and illuminated ‘Everton Tower’ on the club’s famous crest, sandwiched between two winners’ laurel wreaths, and Everton’s Latin motto, ‘Nil Satis, Nisi Optimum.’ ‘Nothing but the best is good enough’.
This was November 2012. And the van was driving past Goodison Park. The stadium where, just over a decade-and-a-half previously, Branch had spectacularly burst onto the scene as one of the most exciting young players of his generation.
Lauded by Gary Lineker, hailed as the next Robbie Fowler, a poster boy for Wayne Rooney, the striker had made his Everton debut as a 17-year-old substitute against a Manchester United team including David Beckham, Roy Keane, Ryan Giggs, Eric Cantona and Andy Cole.
His first goal came in a 2-2 draw at Chelsea when the other scorers comprised Gianfranco Zola, Gianluca Vialli and Andrei Kanchelskis.
But now, now he was going to prison. Having been caught delivering a parcel of amphetamines in a Liverpool car park and later storing a kilogram of cocaine at his home.
“I don’t know if it was deliberate, but I’ll never forget being driven back to prison after my sentencing and going past Goodison and seeing the badge on the Main Stand,” says Branch.
“I remember thinking, ‘how has all this gone so wrong’?
“Obviously I made some really bad choices, and deserve everything that happened, but I never thought the sentence would be seven years.
“And yet, looking back, it was probably the best thing that ever happened to me.”
Last week, Branch was back in Wolverhampton at the Mount Hotel, evoking memories of his arrival at Wolves, initially on loan, and then permanently, at the turn of the Millennium.
Taking part in a Q&A in the latest charity night organised by Wolves fan and major fundraiser Jason Guy, who had previously interviewed Branch on the Wolf Whistle podcast, the former striker spoke openly and with no small amount of courage about his life so far. And with the odd sprinkling of humour dropped in for good measure.
It is now a decade since he was released from prison after serving three-and-a-half years of his seven year sentence.
Speaking whilst the Mount’s Great Hall is empty prior to the event, for which he has donated a couple of matchworn shirts which help the night raise over £3,000 for a number of Guy’s chosen charities, Branch, now 47, admits it hasn’t been all that long that he has been completely comfortable about re-living his experiences.
When he does, it is with complete clarity and honesty about his fall from footballing grace to being incarcerated. ‘From Premiership to prison’, as the event was titled.
Branch is certainly not proud of his actions. Far from it. But he understands why it happened. And in many ways doesn’t look back with any regrets. He believes it has helped make him the person that he is today, a person who has rebuilt his life and has an approach of gratitude and giving back. Which is already having a hugely positive impact on those around him and further afield.
It is an incredible story, and one about which Branch should feel substantially proud. It could, already, have had a very different ending. But instead, still has so many more chapters to come.
But firstly, what of the football? What were the foundations that propelled Branch into the forefront of the Premiership scene as a teenager making waves alongside and against some of the biggest names in the sport?
Spurred on by his fiercely supportive Dad, a motivation he often found an unwanted pressure albeit they have since resolved any issues and are now ‘best mates’, Branch came through the Academy at his beloved Everton to get his teenage kicks at first team level.
His pace and skill and finishing ability also flourished on the international scene, representing England at various junior age groups all the way up to an Under-21 appearance, in the same team as Beckham, against Angola in 1996.
In total he made nearly 50 appearances as a young striker for Everton, many of them off the bench, with a potential which was clearly evident.
But already, the inner demons were circling, and, even if things may have looked positive above the surface, below he was very much swimming against the tide.
“I was very much a confidence player, and used to replay everything in my mind after a game,” Branch admits.
“I was my own worst critic.
“Sometimes, I would look at the clock and we’d have played 70 minutes and, if I’d had a decent game, I’d be wanting to come off because I feared doing something in the last 20 minutes that would spoil it.
“There was also all that pressure on me about being the next Robbie Fowler, which I couldn’t get away from.
“If I put the radio on, the telly, picked up the (Liverpool) Echo, went to the shop and spoke to people, there it was.
“Back then I was young and immature and didn’t have the skills or coping mechanisms to handle that pressure
“And there just wasn’t the same level of support as there is now.
“We had a manager, couple of coaches and a physio, compared to now when they have massive numbers of backroom staff and people to help players with anything that they need.
“I don’t want this to sound like I am not taking responsibility because what happened is only my fault, but I was someone who needed help at the time to deal with the demands that I was facing.”
As it was, the disappointment of ultimately leaving Everton, and joining Wolves on loan then permanently, was tempered by a fresh start away from that pressure and stifling expectation.
