| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Allan Duncan Brown[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1926-10-12)12 October 1926 | ||
| Place of birth | Kennoway,Fife, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 20 April 2011(2011-04-20) (aged 84) | ||
| Place of death | Blackpool, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||
| Position | Inside forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1944–1950 | East Fife | 62 | (20) |
| 1950–1956 | Blackpool | 158 | (68) |
| 1956–1960 | Luton Town | 151 | (51) |
| 1960–1962 | Portsmouth | 69 | (8) |
| 1964–1966 | Wigan Athletic | 67 | (22) |
| Total | 507 | (169) | |
| International career | |||
| 1950–1954 | Scotland[2] | 14 | (6) |
| 1950 | Scottish League XI[3] | 1 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1964–1966 | Wigan Athletic | ||
| 1966–1969 | Luton Town | ||
| 1969–1971 | Torquay United | ||
| 1972–1973 | Bury | ||
| 1973–1975 | Nottingham Forest | ||
| 1976 | Southport | ||
| 1976–1978 | Blackpool | ||
| 1980–1981 | Southport | ||
| 1981–1982 | Blackpool | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Allan Duncan Brown (12 October 1926 – 20 April 2011) was a Scottishfootball player andmanager. Brown played as aninside forward forEast Fife,Blackpool,Luton Town,Portsmouth andWigan Athletic. He also representedScotland, scoring six goals in 14 international appearances, and theScottish League. Brown wasplayer/manager of Wigan Athletic, and also managedLuton Town,Torquay United,Bury,Nottingham Forest,Southport andBlackpool.
As a player, Brown won theScottish League Cup with East Fife in 1949–50. As a manager, he guided Luton Town to theFourth Division title in 1967–68.
Brown, who was born inKennoway,Fife,[4] started his professional playing career atEast Fife, joining them in 1944 from his local side Kennoway.[5] Brown made 62 league appearances for the Fifers, scoring 20 goals as well as numerous cup appearances. He left in December 1950.
Brown made his fullScotland debut whilst with East Fife in April1950, a 3–1 win overSwitzerland atHampden Park. This was followed in the same season by two further games away toPortugal andFrance, as well as helping his club team win theLeague Cup.
Brown moved toBlackpool for a fee of £26,500 (then the largest fee received by a Scottish club),[6] joining compatriotsJackie Mudie,Ewan Fenton,Hugh Kelly and goalkeeperGeorge Farm, where he earned the nicknameBomber.[7] At Blackpool he enjoyed success; however, he missed the Seasiders'1951 FA Cup Final appearance after injuring his knee ten days earlier. He also missed the famous1953 FA Cup Final victory after breaking his leg whilst scoring an 88th-minute winner in the quarter-final againstArsenal on 28 February 1953. On 22 October 1955, Brown was placed on the transfer list of his own volition, reportedly telling club managerJoe Smith he would "only sign for a Scottish club [...] I want to get back overthe Border".[8] Brown was inducted into theHall of Fame at Bloomfield Road, when it was officially opened by former Blackpool playerJimmy Armfield in April 2006.[9] Organised by the Blackpool Supporters Association, Blackpool fans around the world voted on their all-time heroes. Five players from each decade are inducted; Brown is in the 1950s.[10]
While at Blackpool, Brown won a further eleven international caps, scoring againstWales at both the start of the1952–53 and1953–54 seasons. Brown was selected for the 22-man squad for the1954 World Cup finals. TheScottish FA decided to take only 13 of the 22 to the finals. Brown was among those who travelled. Brown's final two games came in the finals againstAustria andUruguay.
Brown moved toLuton Town in February 1957,[5] for a fee of £8,000, scoring on his league debut atLeeds. He scored five goals in the Hatters' successful1958–59 FA Cup run, including scoring the only goal in their sixth-round victory over his former club, Blackpool. He at last played in aWembley final, as Luton lost 2–1 toNottingham Forest in the1959 FA Cup Final. He scored 51 goals in 151 league appearances for Luton.
Brown moved toPortsmouth in March 1961.[5]
In August 1963, Brown joined thennon-leagueWigan Athletic as player-manager, replacingJohnny Ball. He remained at Wigan until July 1966. In November 1966, he returned to Luton, this time as manager of a side struggling in theFourth Division. He soon changed the fortunes of the Hatters, leading them to the Fourth Division title in1968. They started the next season promisingly (and were eventually to finish in third place); however, Brown was sacked in December 1968 after it was discovered he had applied for the vacant managerial post atLeicester City. Brown's departure from Luton is memorialized at the 47:51 mark of "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", when the character Campbell can be seen reading a newspaper with the prominent headline "Why Brown had to go".
He was not out of work for long, joiningTorquay United as manager in January1969. He kept the Gulls comfortably inDivision Three during his first two-and-a-half seasons in charge (finishes of sixth, thirteenth and tenth), but after a poor start to the1971–72 season, he was sacked in October 1971. Torquay would eventually be relegated later that season.
On 20 June 1972, Brown became manager ofBury, leading them to twelfth place in Division Four at the end of his first season in charge. The following season, 1973–74, Bury started brightly, and would eventually be promoted in fourth place; Brown, however, had left on 19 November 1973, to manageNottingham Forest, and took them to seventh place by the end of the season. The followingseason, Forest started badly and Brown upset the fans by sellingDuncan McKenzie toBrian Clough'sLeeds United. He was sacked on 3 January 1975, shortly after a 2–0 home defeat to local rivalsNotts County. Clough replaced Brown at Forest.
On 5 May 1976, Brown was appointed manager of another of his former playing clubs,Blackpool, who at the time were in theSecond Division. The followingseason saw them battle for promotion and eventually finish in fifth place, missing out on a return to Division One by two points. During the next season the club were again challenging for promotion, but after an argument with chairman Billy Cartmell, on 6 February 1978 Brown was sacked. Cartmell had made remarks in a daily newspaper about Brown's job being on the line despite five-goal home wins in recent games, to which Brown responded by calling the chairman a "back-stabbing rat", which the board felt was unacceptable.[11] After his departure, Blackpool won only one more game, dropped down the table, and were narrowly relegated at the end of the season.
Later that year he moved toKuwait to manage Quadsia, but returned to manageBlackpool in March 1981 as a replacement forAlan Ball; however, he was unable to prevent their relegation to Division Four for the first time in their history. The following season saw a mid-table finish, and Brown left Blackpool in May 1982.
Brown died on 20 April 2011,[4] at the age of 84.[12] Awreath was laid behind the South Stand goal before the fixture between Blackpool andNewcastle United at Bloomfield Road three days after his death.
East Fife
Luton Town
Luton Town
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