Boro’ didn’t have the most active January transfer window in 2025 – but deemed Brandon Hanlan to be someone worth bringing in. The forward came to us on loan from fellow League One side Wycombe Wanderers; adding depth to options in attack. And given our record in front of goal up until that point during the 2024-5 campaign, that wasn’t really such an awful thing. Was he to be the silver bullet that would turbo-charge an unlikely playoff push? Well, let’s slow down there – give the lad a chance. But the sense was obviously that we had to be particular about who we brought in.

Brandon Hanlan: Before Boro’

Hanlan certainly arrived with a fair deal of Football League experience under his belt. After starting at Charlton Athletic, the forward rose through the Addicks’ ranks and turned pro in 2015. As can often be the case, however, chances were few and far between at The Valley and the chance came to sign for Gillingham in 2018. By this point, we should mention that first team experience had been gained on loan at Bromley (twice) and Colchester United. Life at the Gills was quite productive all told; something that earned him a move to Bristol Rovers in 2020.

At the Gas, he started attracting interest from League One sides; Lincoln City being the first, Wycombe then the second. It’d be the Chairboys who Hanlan would sign for next; an undisclosed fee securing his services in August 2021.