Our Next Event….
Wednesday, 29th February 2012
Speakers: Kyran Bracken MBE & John Stiles
Members Tickets: £59 + VAT each
Non Members Tickets: £79 + VAT each
Our Subsequent Events in 2012
Wednesday, 13th June 2012
Wednesday, 26th September 2012
Wednesday, 5th December 2012
Speaker Profiles
Kyran Bracken MBE
Born in Dublin of a dentist father and a mother who had played hockey for Ireland, Kyran’s family moved to England when he was aged 4 and he was brought up in Liverpool. Coached at Stonyhurst College by former England Head Coach Brian Ashton, Kyran played initially for Waterloo RFC, but joined Bristol in 1992 whilst studying Law at the University and stayed on after qualifying as a solicitor.
In the meantime, Kyran had made his debut for England against New Zealand in 1993 but a major ankle injury put him out of action for 3 months. Whilst his professional rugby career actually lasted for 14 seasons, injury and serious competition for the scrum half berth restricted his International appearances. Nevertheless, after joining Saracens in 1996 he helped the Club to defeat Wasps and win the Tetleys Bitter Cup in 2008. A year earlier, after initially being left out of the British Lions Squad for South Africa in favour of Matt Dawson and Austin Healey, he was called out as a replacement for injured Rob Howley but did not feature in any of the Test Matches.
Injury kept Kyran out of the 1999 World Cup and he was again not selected for the Lions in 2001, for the tour to Australia, but he did Captain England on a three match development tour of North America. Two years later, he played in England’s summer tour to Australia and New Zealand, defeating both countries. Kyran’s last four caps were won during the 2003 World Cup in Australia, his 50th appearance against Wales in the quarter-final and his last in the semi-final against France. He then announced his retirement from International rugby but played on with Saracens until 2006.
Less than a year later, in March 2007, Kyran starred in and won the second series of the very popular ITV celebrity ice dancing competition, “Dancing on Ice” with partner Melanie Lambert, with whom he achieved a record score in the semi-final of 29.5 points out of 30. A week after the Final he also won the special edition of the Show, “The Champion of Champions”. Since then he has set up and runs a successful touring skating show, “Kyran’s Ice Party”.
These days a resident in north London with his wife and three sons, Kyran is also a very popular speaker on the circuit where he is able to combine his natural sense of humour with his knowledge of business principles and vast experience as an International sportsman.
John Stiles
John will be forever saddled with the inevitable burden of being the son of a famous father. He was born two years before Nobby Stiles MBE became a national football hero as a member of England’s victorious World Cup winning Team in 1966. John is also the nephew of Leeds United and Republic of Ireland legend, Johnny Giles.
Born in Manchester, John followed his father into professional football, making over 150 appearances in the Football League for Leeds United and Doncaster Rovers over a five year period. When his career ended he started his own insurance business and later moved into the football agency industry where his experience included a spell with the management company that looked after the affairs of the Spice Girls.
John eventually began working as an after-dinner speaker and Master of Ceremonies. This career path took him into the world of comedy where he has since established himself as one of the most popular and entertaining comedians on the circuit. With his unique style and delivery, combining anecdotes with some very amusing impressions, John is very much sought after, having worked alongside most of the country’s best known sporting celebrities.