| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Laurence Brown[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1937-08-22)22 August 1937[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Shildon, England | ||
| Date of death | 30 September 1998(1998-09-30) (aged 61)[1] | ||
| Place of death | Newton Aycliffe, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Centre forward,centre half | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 195?–195? | Shildon | ||
| 195?–195? | Woking | ||
| 195?–195? | Fulham | 0 | (0) |
| 195?–1959 | Bishop Auckland | ||
| 1959 | Darlington | 3 | (0) |
| 1959–1960 | Bishop Auckland | ||
| 1960–1961 | Northampton Town | 33 | (22) |
| 1961–1964 | Arsenal | 109 | (2) |
| 1964–1966 | Tottenham Hotspur | 62 | (3) |
| 1966–1968 | Norwich City | 81 | (2) |
| 1968–1969 | Bradford Park Avenue | 36 | (1) |
| 1969–1970 | Altrincham | 21 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 1960 | England Amateur | 3 | (0) |
| 1960 | Great Britain Olympic | 6 | (0) |
| 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 Englishfootball player and manager. He made more than 300 appearances in theFootball League, playing either atcentre half or in theforward line forDarlington,Northampton Town,Arsenal,Tottenham Hotspur,Norwich City andBradford Park Avenue. He was anEngland amateur international and captainedGreat Britain at the 1960 Summer Olympics.[3] He wasplayer-manager of Bradford in the League, and also had managerial spells withnon-league clubsAltrincham,King's Lynn andStockton.
Brown was born inShildon,County Durham.[1] He trained as a cabinet-maker, and worked atDoggarts department store inBishop Auckland.[4][5] He began his football career withShildon, and appeared forWoking andFulham, before returning to the north-east withBishop Auckland,[6] where his goalscoring – he contributed five in a 9–1Northern League defeat ofFerryhill Athletic in November 1958[7] – attracted reported interest from major professional clubs.[2]
In the last couple of months of the1958–59 season, Brown made three appearances in theFootball League Fourth Division as an amateur forDarlington before returning to Bishop Auckland.[8] His goalscoring continued: in December 1959, he scored nine as theDurham FA beat theirEast Riding counterparts 11–0.[7] In January 1960, theDaily Mirror reported that he was delaying turning professional withManchester United because he wanted to play at theOlympics, which was then an amateur competition.[9]
Brown made his debut for theEngland 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 threeOlympic qualifiers, and captained theGreat Britain team in theOlympic 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 DivisionNorthampton Town. Although heavily linked withNewcastle United,[12] he turned professional with Northampton in October 1960, and finishedthe season as the club's top scorer as they were promoted to theThird Division.[13] By then, he had been switched fromcentre forward tocentre half,[14] and was to flourish in that position.
In May and June 1961, Brown was a member of aFootball Association touring team that visited Malaya, Singapore, Hong Kong, New Zealand and the United States.[15] In August, he was signed byFirst Division clubArsenal 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 theNorth London derby against Arsenal. Spurs won 3–1, and Brown came close to scoring. The move was particularly controversial as he displacedBobby 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 boughtMike England to replace him.[17] Brown made 62 League appearances for Tottenham.[1]
In September 1966 he was sold toNorwich City, where he spent two seasons[1] before finishing his career asplayer-manager ofBradford 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 ofAltrincham.[21] Brown resigned in September 1970,[22] and later had spells as manager ofKing's Lynn, from November to the end of the season,[23] andStockton.[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 inNewton Aycliffe in 1998 at the age of 61.[1]
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.
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."
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.
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