Laurie Brown (footballer)

Laurie Brown
Personal information
Full name	Laurence Brown
Date of birth	22 August 1937
Place of birth	Shildon, England
Date of death	30 September 1998 (aged 61)
Place of death	Newton Aycliffe, England
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Position(s)	Centre forward, centre half
Senior career*
Years	Team
195?–195?	Shildon
195?–195?	Woking
195?–195?	Fulham
195?–1959	Bishop Auckland
1959	Darlington
1959–1960	Bishop Auckland
1960–1961	Northampton Town
1961–1964	Arsenal
1964–1966	Tottenham Hotspur
1966–1968	Norwich City
1968–1969	Bradford Park Avenue
1969–1970	Altrincham
International career
1960	England Amateur
1960	Great Britain Olympic
Managerial career
1968–1969	Bradford Park Avenue (player-manager)
1969–1970	Altrincham (player-manager)
1970–1971	King's Lynn
	Stockton
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Laurence Brown (22 August 1937 – 30 September 1998) was an English football player and manager. He made more than 300 appearances in the Football League, playing either at centre half or in the forward line for Darlington, Northampton Town, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Norwich City and Bradford Park Avenue. He was an England amateur international and captained Great Britain at the 1960 Summer Olympics.^[3] He was player-manager of Bradford in the League, and also had managerial spells with non-league clubs Altrincham, King's Lynn and Stockton.

Life and career

Brown was born in Shildon, County Durham.^[1] He trained as a cabinet-maker, and worked at Doggarts department store in Bishop Auckland.^[4]^[5] He began his football career with Shildon, and appeared for Woking and Fulham, before returning to the north-east with Bishop Auckland,^[6] where his goalscoring – he contributed five in a 9–1 Northern League defeat of Ferryhill Athletic in November 1958^[7] – attracted reported interest from major professional clubs.^[2]

In the last couple of months of the 1958–59 season, Brown made three appearances in the Football League Fourth Division as an amateur for Darlington before returning to Bishop Auckland.^[8] His goalscoring continued: in December 1959, he scored nine as the Durham FA beat their East Riding counterparts 11–0.^[7] In January 1960, the Daily Mirror reported that he was delaying turning professional with Manchester United because he wanted to play at the Olympics, which was then an amateur competition.^[9]

Brown made his debut for the England Amateur XI on 5 March 1960 against West Germany, and made his last appearance in September, shortly before he turned professional.^[10] He played in three Olympic qualifiers, and captained the Great Britain team in the Olympic tournament proper in Rome.^[10] The British team failed to progress to the knockout stage and came eighth overall.^[11]

On his return to England he signed as an amateur for Fourth Division Northampton Town. Although heavily linked with Newcastle United,^[12] he turned professional with Northampton in October 1960, and finished the season as the club's top scorer as they were promoted to the Third Division.^[13] By then, he had been switched from centre forward to centre half,^[14] and was to flourish in that position.

In May and June 1961, Brown was a member of a Football Association touring team that visited Malaya, Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand and the United States.^[15] In August, he was signed by First Division club Arsenal for £35,000,^[16] and immediately became a first-team regular. Brown amassed 109 appearances for the Gunners in two-and-a-half seasons, scoring twice. At the time, Arsenal were the less successful of the two north London clubs, and Brown made a surprising move to their deadly rivals, Tottenham Hotspur, in February 1964, for a fee of £40,000.^[17]

He became one of the few players to play for both clubs,^[18] and coincidentally made his Tottenham debut – the day after signing – in the North London derby against Arsenal. Spurs won 3–1, and Brown came close to scoring. The move was particularly controversial as he displaced Bobby Smith at centre forward. The gamble did not pay off, and Brown was dropped after nine matches. The following season, he re-appeared at centre half, where he remained until Tottenham bought Mike England to replace him.^[17] Brown made 62 League appearances for Tottenham.^[1]

In September 1966 he was sold to Norwich City, where he spent two seasons^[1] before finishing his career as player-manager of Bradford Park Avenue. He resigned as manager in October 1969 when a club director decided he would pick the team; Brown and 18 other players submitted transfer requests.^[19]^[20] He was given a free transfer in November, and was promptly appointed player-manager of Altrincham.^[21] Brown resigned in September 1970,^[22] and later had spells as manager of King's Lynn, from November to the end of the season,^[23] and Stockton.^[17]

Brown later ran a pub in Shildon and worked as a milk tanker driver. In his mid-50s he suffered a stroke from which he never fully recovered.^[5] He died in Newton Aycliffe in 1998 at the age of 61.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Laurie Brown". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
^ ^a ^b "England forget Laurie Brown". Daily Express. London. 10 March 1959. p. 14. Bishop Auckland centre half or centre forward Laurie Brown was yesterday left out of England's amateur team to meet Scotland at Dumfries next Saturday. And 20 Division One scouts smiled. For the longer 6ft. 2in. Brown is shelved by the selectors, the sooner he may turn professional. ... Only one thing stops him accepting an offer—the chance of an England amateur cap.
^ "Laurie Brown". Olympedia. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
^ "Laurie Brown". SR/Olympic Sports. Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 4 July 2017. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
^ ^a ^b Amos, Mike (16 March 2007). "Tilery Tom towered at Blackpool". The Northern Echo. Darlington. Retrieved 12 November 2007.
^ "Players". English National Football Archive. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
^ ^a ^b Hunt, Brian (1989). Northern Goalfields. Official Centenary History of the Northern League 1889–1989. Skol Northern League Management Committee. pp. 228, 233. ISBN 0-9514597-1-6.
^ Tweddle, Frank (2000). The Definitive Darlington F.C. Nottingham: SoccerData. pp. 55, 100. ISBN 978-1-899468-15-7.
^ Jones, C.M. (26 January 1960). "The Browns are our stars". Daily Mirror. London. p. 20.
^ ^a ^b "England's matches: Amateur 1947–1962". England Football Online. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
^ Reyes, Macario (26 October 1999). "XVII. Olympiad Rome 1960 Football Tournament". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF). Retrieved 16 November 2017.
^ Toye, Clive (27 September 1960). "Wolves warn Spurs with £100,000". Daily Express. London. p. 20. Brown, as I revealed yesterday, wants Northampton Town to cancel his amateur registration, play a couple of games for Newcastle as an amateur—and then sign professional. Said Brown last night: "I have never played for Northampton, nor have I any intention of playing for them. Mr. Bowen is wasting his time trying to keep me."
^ "Club history". Northampton Town F.C. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
^ Langley, Mike (13 April 1961). "Brown switch gives promotion boost". Daily Express. London. p. 20. Big Laurie Brown, 22-goal talk of the Fourth Division, practically clinched promotion for Northampton last night—as a defender. Brown ... was switched from inside right to centre half to patch up manager Dave Bowen's injury-riddled team. And in the frantic 64th minute of this muscular match, Brown kicked certain goals by Gillingham's centre forward Pat Terry and inside left Gordon Pulley off the line.
^ Bell, Stephen; Zlotkowski, Andre (3 January 2008). "English FA XI 1961 World Tour". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF). Retrieved 12 November 2017.
^ "Laurie Brown". Arsenal F.C. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c "From Arsenal to playing for Tottenham v Arsenal, in one day". woolwicharsenal.co.uk. AISA Arsenal History History. 19 December 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
^ "Football: Rarely trod path twixt N5 and N17". The Independent. London. 27 December 1997. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
^ Miller, Harry (25 October 1969). "Revolution as director says: I pick the team". Daily Mirror. London. p. 30.
^ Sutcliffe, Richard (19 April 2005). "The day Avenue met end of road". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
^ "Brown's new post". Press and Journal. Aberdeen. 19 November 1969. p. 16.
^ Rowley, Terry. "A to Z of Altrincham Football Club Part One: A to G". Altrincham F.C. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
^ "Past Managers of King's Lynn Football Club". Blue & Gold Trust. Retrieved 12 November 2017.