Football League World
·7 October 2021
Football League World
·7 October 2021
Despite not being able to guide Brentford to the Premier League during his time in the capital, he will still be fondly remembered by Bees fans who had the pleasure of seeing him in action.
First arriving at the club in January 2014 on a loan spell from Blackburn Rovers, he scored seven goals and recorded three assists in 22 appearances to guide them to League One promotion and with that, this temporary move was made permanent in the summer to keep him at Griffin Park.
He was on fire in his first full two seasons with the Bees, putting them in contention for a place in the Premier League in 2014/15 with his 18 goal contributions and their fifth-place finish, eventually missing out to Middlesbrough in the play-off semi-finals.
The 32-year-old was even better the following campaign despite Brentford’s finish in ninth, scoring 14 times and securing 12 assists as one of the second-tier’s best midfielders.
His horrific leg break in April 2016 seemed to ruin his career at Griffin Park though, not being able to return to his red-hot form after recovering and joining Ipswich Town in January 2019 for an undisclosed fee.
He was unable to save the Tractor Boys from relegation at the end of the 2018/19 season and failed to hit the heights he reached at Brentford, but still made a respectable 91 competitive appearances during his time at Portman Road before moving on in 2021.
Unfortunately for him, he was just one of many casualties of Paul Cook’s demolition job in the summer as the Liverpudlian offloaded the majority of his previous squad and brought in 19 players.
Judge has since dropped down another division to join Colchester United on a two-year contract, making eight appearances and appearing as a regular under Hayden Mullins.
Currently 18th in the fourth tier, he will be hoping to drag the U’s up the table to avoid the threat of relegation to the fifth tier, something that would be a disaster at 32 with at least a few more years left to give in professional football.