A FIVE-YEAR professional football career bookended by 3-1 results against Crewe Alexandra almost certainly wouldn’t have been the path John Piercy would have chosen for himself.

One saw him make a promising debut for Tottenham Hotspur on 13 October 1999, subbed off to a terrific ovation from a 25,000 crowd at White Hart Lane on 74 minutes as they progressed in a League Cup game against the lower league opposition.

The other was a League One defeat for Brighton & Hove Albion at humble Withdean Stadium on 6 November 2004, subbed off ignominiously only 12 minutes into the second half with many in the crowd of 6,163 unaware that the hereditary bowel disease afflicting him was putting paid to his hopes of a football career.

Born in Forest Gate, east London, on 18 September 1979, Spurs first spotted Piercy as a stand-out 12-year-old, talented enough to represent England Schoolboys.

He became a trainee with Spurs at the age of 16 and signed as a professional in July 1998.

It was George Graham who gave him his first team debut for Spurs in that game against Crewe, starting him up front alongside Chris Armstrong in a side that featured future Brighton player and assistant manager Mauricio Taricco in defence.

The Spurs goals were scored by Oyvind Leonhardsen, David Ginola and Tim Sherwood, but spursodyssey.com was full of praise for the young Piercy.

“One young man who will remember this night more than most is 20-year-old debutant John Piercy, who won the home fans’ hearts with two terrific efforts on goal, and an eye-catching performance all round,” it said. They even went as far as to suggest he might be ‘the new Ginola’.

The performance was good enough to earn him a place on the bench for the following Saturday’s Premier League game away to Derby County and he was called into action in the second half to replace Armstrong as Spurs won 1-0.

He made two more league appearances that season and an excellent Spurs archive website said of him: “The solidly built East Londoner had the ability to lead the line and to make chances for his team-mates, by going wide and taking people on.

“Some work was needed on his first touch and his pace, but he was strong, direct and knew where the goal was.  Preferred to play wide on the left of midfield, but was deployed at full back in the reserves to good effect.”

Chris Hughton was the Spurs reserve team manager at the time and said of Piercy: “John is able to adapt well to different roles which is why we’ve played him at full-back in pre-season when we’ve been stretched in those areas.  But I’d say his best position is definitely right or left of midfield.”

On 4 April 1999, he started for England under 20s against the USA in the World Youth Championships in Nigeria, but was subbed off in a game England lost 1-0. His teammates that day included future full international Ashley Cole, and the side was managed by former Albion full-back Chris Ramsey.

Frustrated by the lack of first team opportunities at Spurs, Piercy, by then based in Eastbourne, opted to join Brighton in September 2002 during Martin Hinshelwood’s brief reign as manager.

Hinshelwood told the BBC: “He’s a player who can play in a variety of positions. That will give us plenty of options.”

A first team breakthrough at Brighton was slow to happen, however, with Hinshelwood’s successor, Steve Coppell, opting for experience in the ultimately unsuccessful battle to avoid relegation from the second tier. Piercy top-scored for the reserves that season, netting 13 goals from midfield.

However, shortly after Mark McGhee’s appointment, he did get some game time and in December 2003 also registered his first league goal in a 1-0 win at home to Wrexham.

Later the same month, he went one better playing up front in place of the suspended Leon Knight and scored twice in a resounding 4-0 home win over Wycombe Wanderers.

More often than not, though, he was brought on as a substitute rather than starting games. He made just eight league starts and in six of them was subbed off.

His other appearances (16) were all from the bench and that was the role he found himself in at the 2004 play-off final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, although his contribution was certainly effective.

Piercy replaced Nathan Jones in the 77^th minute. “He (McGhee) made a change with just over 10 minutes left and we went on to win the game, so no one is going to complain, are they?” Jones told walesonline.co.uk.

Reports also recorded how Brighton threatened Steve Phillips’ goal moments after Piercy replaced Jones, Iwelumo glancing the substitute’s cross wide of the far post.

Sadly for Piercy, while he showed promise on the football pitch, he began to suffer the horribly debilitating effects of colitis, as he described in an interview with the Argus.

He praised the support he got from McGhee and reserve team boss Dean White but it reached a point where it was evident the illness was simply sapping too much energy from him to continue a full-time professional football career.

That defeat at home to Crewe proved to be his last game for the Albion and he announced his retirement aged 25 shortly afterwards.

“He knows his capabilties and I know his capabilities,” said McGhee in a matchday programme article. “He’s a player that could easily cope with the standard of the Championship but this illness has just affected him in a way that he just can’t get fit enough to do himself justice.”

Chairman Dick Knight added: “It is a great shame that such a skilful player, with such tremendous natural ability, has seen his career curtailed in such a cruel way. All at the club are devastated for him to be hanging up his boots at the relatively young age of 25.”

Piercy subsequently regained sufficient fitness to play a season with non-league Eastbourne Borough and then took up a coaching role with the club.

Nowadays he is a sports coach at Ocklynge Junior School in Eastbourne where he teaches youngsters football and PE, and is also a coach at CACL Sports in the town.