8 Things That Have Happened in Football Since Chris Brunt Signed for West Brom in 2007
By Ali Rampling
When the 2019/20 season eventually comes to a close, so will Chris Brunt's 13-year stay at West Brom. The 35-year-old is an absolute Baggies stalwart, having joined the club way back in August 2007.
Brunt became synonymous with West Brom. He was a classic, reliable, dependable member of 2010s Premier League football. It's hard to imagine what life will be like without him in a Baggies strip, and even more difficult to remember what life was like before.
It was a simpler time. No one had heard of Brexit, coronavirus or VAR, and JK Rowling was just that nice lady who wrote those fun books about the boy wizard.
Let's take a look at how the football landscape has changed from pre-Brunt West Brom to post-Brunt West Brom.
The Transfer World Record Has Been Broken Five Times
When Brunt joined West Brom, Zinedine Zidane's world record transfer fee had remained intact for six years. Real Madrid paid £46.6m for the Frenchman back in 2001, and this was finally broken by the Spanish giants in 2009 when they purchased Kaka for £56m.
Real broke their own record that very same summer with the £80m signing of Cristiano Ronaldo, before making Gareth Bale the world's most expensive signing four years later by coughing up £86m for the Welshman.
Manchester United briefly boasted the world's most expensive player in 2016 with the £89m acquisition of Paul Pogba, but PSG blew everybody out of the water by paying €222m for Neymar.
Since West Brom paid £3m (plus add ons) for Chris Brunt, the £100m barrier has been exceeded on five occasions.
Jamie Vardy Has Jumped Seven Divisions
In 2007, Jamie Vardy was breaking into the Stocksbridge Park Steels senior team in the Northern Premier League Division One South East - the eighth tier of English football.
13 years on, via spells at Halifax and Fleetwood, he's on course to win the Premier League golden boot at the age of 33, with another shot at Champions League football on the horizon.
Watford Have Had 12 Different Managers
When Brunt joined West Brom, a fresh faced Aidy Boothroyd was in the Hornets' hot seat. In the space of 13 years, Watford have gone through 12 different managers - including Quique Sanchez Flores twice.
Malky Mackay lasted a full two seasons before moving to Cardiff - a feat no Watford manager has achieved since. At 17 months, Gianfranco Zola is the second longest serving boss.
Between August 2014 and today, the Hornets have had eight separate full time managers. Brunt's West Brom aren't too far off Watford's tally, with 11 different managers in the space of 13 years.
Manchester City Have Won 11 Major Trophies
In the 13 years since Brunt's 2007 transfer, Manchester City have won more major trophies than they had collected during their previous 113 years of existence.
Funnily enough, this transformation of fortunes has coincided with the 2008 takeover from UAE billionaire Sheikh Mansour.
When Brunt made his move to West Brom, Man City had finished the previous season 14th in the Premier League, and Joey Barton was their top scorer.
13 years on, they have been crowned champions of England four times, have set a new Premier League points record and spent more than £1.6bn on players. You could buy 533 Chris Brunt's with that.
Lionel Messi Has Scored 601 Goals for Barcelona
When West Brom signed Chris Brunt, a 20-year-old Lionel Messi was still emerging from the shadows of Ronaldinho at Barcelona, having enjoyed a major breakthrough 2006/07 season.
In 2007, he received his first Ballon d'Or nomination, and two years later he would win the accolade for the first time - a further five would come. Messi has sent goal scoring records tumbling in the process, with a ridiculous 601 in the past 13 years.
Chris Brunt has scored 48 times for the Baggies, and was named the 2008/09 West Bromwich Albion Player of the Year.
Wales Have Climbed 51 Places in the FIFA World Rankings
In August 2007, John Toshack's Wales were ranked 74th in the world. Cape Verdi, Uzbekistan and Macedonia were all ranked higher.
13 years on, they have reached the semi-finals of a major tournament (having not qualified since 1958), and currently sit a healthy 23rd in the FIFA world rankings, with Cape Verdi, Uzbekistan and Macedonia firmly in their rear view mirror.
Unfortunately, Chris Brunt's Northern Ireland have slipped nine places, from 27th to 36th, since his West Brom move. However, he hasn't played for his country since 2017, so it's not entirely his fault.
England Have Made Five Major Tournament Semi Finals
In 2007, England had not reached the semi finals of a major tournament since their Euro 96 heartache. They had Middlesbrough success story Steve McClaren at the wheel, but failed to even qualify for the 2008 Euros.
Fast forward 13 years and with Middlesbrough reject Gareth Southgate in charge, England have enjoyed considerably more success, reaching the semi finals of the 2018 World Cup.
The women's team have helped to bump up these figures, making it to the 2009 European Championships final, and reaching the last four stage at the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, and 2017 Euros.
Chris Brunt has not appeared in any major tournament semi finals, heartbreakingly missing out on a spot at the 2016 Euros after rupturing his ACL.
Sepp Blatter Has Been Banned from Football
In 2007, Sepp Blatter was re-elected for a third term in office as FIFA president. There had been whispers about bribery and fraud accusations within the governing body, but the worst Blatter had been found guilty of was bad takes on how to further women's football.
His stock has fallen a bit since then.
Three years later Qatar were controversially awarded the World Cup, and in 2015 a selection of former and current Fifa officials were arrested on corruption charges.
Blatter resigned, and later that year he received a six-year ban from competing in FIFA activities after being found guilty of ethics violations.