 Brown training withLeeds United in 2011 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Michael Robert Brown[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1977-01-25)25 January 1977 (age 49)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Hartlepool, England[2] | ||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[3] | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Manchester City | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1994–1999 | Manchester City | 88 | (2) |
| 1997 | →Hartlepool United (loan) | 6 | (1) |
| 1999 | →Portsmouth (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 1999–2000 | →Sheffield United (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 2000–2004 | Sheffield United | 147 | (28) |
| 2004–2006 | Tottenham Hotspur | 50 | (2) |
| 2006–2007 | Fulham | 41 | (0) |
| 2007–2009 | Wigan Athletic | 58 | (0) |
| 2009–2011 | Portsmouth | 45 | (4) |
| 2011–2014 | Leeds United | 66 | (2) |
| 2014–2017 | Port Vale | 52 | (4) |
| Total | 561 | (42) | |
| International career | |||
| 1996 | England U21 | 4 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2016–2017 | Port Vale | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Michael Robert Brown (born 25 January 1977) is an English former professionalfootballer and footballmanager who now works as apundit.
AnEngland under-21 internationalmidfielder, his hard-tackling style sometimes caused him to take criticism from others in the game. He began his career withManchester City having come through theiryouth ranks. He was named the club's Player of the Year in 1998 before featuring in theirSecond Divisionplay-off final victory in1999. He also spent time onloan atHartlepool United,Portsmouth andSheffield United, before he was sold to Sheffield United for a£400,000 fee in January 2000. He scored 36 goals in 174 appearances during a four-year stay in Sheffield, being named as the club's Player of the Year in 2002 and named on thePFA Team of the Year the following year.
He moved back to thePremier League withTottenham Hotspur for a £500,000 fee in January 2004. After two years with Spurs, he moved on toFulham for an 18-month stay. He wastransferred toWigan Athletic in July 2007, where he would spend two seasons before making the move to Portsmouth in August 2009. He played for the club in their2010FA Cup final defeat toChelsea, but could not prevent them from beingrelegated out of the top-flight that same year. He joinedLeeds United in July 2011 and went on to spend the next three years atElland Road. He signed withPort Vale in July 2014 and also took on a coaching role with them before becoming assistant manager toBruno Ribeiro in June 2016. He was promoted tocaretaker manager following Ribeiro's resignation in December 2016. Still, he could not prevent relegation fromEFL League One at the end of the 2016–17 season, after which he was confirmed as the club's permanent manager. With the club lying bottom of theEnglish Football League, he was sacked in September 2017. He has since gone on to work as apundit andsummariser forBBC Sport,Sky Sports andQuest.
Brown was born inHartlepool on 25 January 1977.[2] His father, Robert (Bobby), helped to run Hartlepool Lion Hillcarter F.C.[4] His mother, Barbara, was involved with the Hartlepoolnetball club, Oakesway.[5] Brown attendedHigh Tunstall Comprehensive School and represented the school football team at county level.[5]
Brown graduated through theManchester Cityyouth scheme before signing professionally for the club on 13 September 1994.[6] While a youth player he played in several positions before establishing himself as a central midfielder.[7] Hecaptained theyouth team in the 1994–95 season, leading to involvement with the first-team in the 1995 pre-season.[7] Brown made his debut for Manchester City on 26 August 1995 againstQueens Park Rangers atLoftus Road, in which Brown wassent off only 10 minutes after coming on as asubstitute forSteve Lomas.[8] Despite this inauspicious start to his career he was played from the start four days later atMaine Road as City were beaten 2–0 byEverton.[9] He went on to feature as the "Citizens" main back-up player, making 16Premier League starts and five substitute appearances during the1995–96relegation season.
He began the1996–97 season as a first-team regular undermanagerAlan Ball after midfielderGarry Flitcroft had left the club. He reflected about the first-team opportunities, saying: "I was very young and was playing well in the youth team, the first-team weren't doing so well and I kind of got fast-tracked into the squad. I got a chance and did okay. I played quite a lot that season which was fantastic. Alan was the manager and he gave me a chance. It was a great club and to be at that age and go from nowhere to the first-team was pretty special."[10] However, Ball was sacked and his successorSteve Coppell and Coppell's successorFrank Clark kept Brown out of the starting line-up. He was insteadloaned out to his home town clubHartlepool United in March 1997 and featured in sixThird Division matches atVictoria Park underMick Tait's stewardship. He scored his first goal in theFootball League for "Pools", opening the scoring in a 2–1 win overDarlington atFeethams on 19 April.
Brown worked his way back into the "Sky Blues" starting eleven midway through the1997–98 season and scored his first goal for the club in theFA Cup on 3 January in a 2–0 win overBradford City. In total, he made 27 appearances during the1997–98 campaign as City were relegated out of theFirst Division. One of the few causes for optimism during a bad spell, he was named the club's Player of the Year.
He became a key member of the squad that wonpromotion out of theSecond Division, featuring 39 times throughout the1998–99 campaign. He started in theplay-off final againstGillingham atWembley Stadium, before being replaced byIan Bishop after 61 minutes.[11]
However,Joe Royle never utilised Brown in the First Division, and he was instead loaned out to divisional rivalsPortsmouth in November 1999, who were then managed by his former City boss Alan Ball. He played four games for "Pompey" but leftFratton Park days before Ball was sacked.
Newly appointedSheffield United managerNeil Warnock was impressed by Brown in his performance for Portsmouth in a 1–0 defeat to United atBramall Lane on 4 December, and subsequently took Brown on loan later that month. After only four performances for the "Blades" Warnock was convinced enough to spend£400,000 take Brown to Bramall Lane permanently. He scored his first goal for his new club against his former employers, Manchester City, in a 1–0 home win on 22 January. He ended the1999–2000 season with three goals in 24 games.
He made 40 appearances during the2000–01 campaign and scored againstSteel City rivalsSheffield Wednesday in a 2–1League Cup defeat atHillsborough on 1 November. Brown heavily featured in theBattle of Bramall Lane; he limped off the field with an injury on 79 minutes leaving the game desperately short of players, and two minutes after he left the field another injury left United with only six players, forcing the game to be abandoned.[12] He learned to add goals to his game during the2001–02 season asStuart McCall's defensive ability allowed Brown more licence to join the attack; he hit seven goals in 40 appearances and won the club's Player of the Year award.
He scored 22 goals in 54 appearances in the2002–03 season and was named on thePFA Team of the Year alongside midfield partnerMichael Tonge as they helped United to finish third in theFirst Division.[13] He scored in both legs of theplay-off semi-final victory overNottingham Forest, and then played at theMillennium Stadium in theplay-off final defeat toWolverhampton Wanderers, missing a 48th-minutepenalty when Wolves were already three goals ahead.[14][15]
Leeds United were linked with a £6 million approach for bothPhil Jagielka and Brown in August 2003, though Sheffield United denied ever receiving such an offer.[16] However, after being sent off twice in the first half of the2003–04 season, manager Neil Warnock confirmed that with Brown out ofcontract at the end of the season he would be looking to sell Brown to the highest bidder.[17]
Brown was signed byTottenham Hotspur in January 2004 for a fee of £500,000.[18] He scored his first top-flight goal in a 4–4 draw withLeicester City atWhite Hart Lane on 22 February.[19] He played a total of 19 games forDavid Pleat's "Spurs" during the second half of the2003–04 season.
He made 34 appearances in the2004–05 campaign and scored goals againstNorwich City in the league and againstBolton Wanderers in theLeague Cup.[20][21] Brown's position in midfield for Tottenham was in a much deeper role than his position for Sheffield United. He found himself becoming a more defensive-minded midfielder. Although well appreciated by fans for his hard work and honest contribution, the strengthening of the Spurs midfield underMartin Jol threatened Brown's position in the team with signings likeEdgar Davids,Hossam Ghaly andDanny Murphy adding competition for places withMichael Carrick andJermaine Jenas already at the club.
Brown was limited to just 11 appearances in the first half of the2005–06 season and was moved on toFulham in January 2006.[22]
He played seven games for the "Cottagers" towards the end of the2005–06 season. He was handed thecaptaincy by managerChris Coleman.[23] Reflecting on his captaincy, Brown said: "I just want to be playing football as much as I can and now with the added reward of being made captain it makes it even better."[24] He made 37 appearances in the2006–07 season as Fulham finished two places and one point above the relegation zone.[25] However,Lawrie Sanchez was brought in after the departure of Coleman and in the close season, he signed many new players – including midfieldersChris Baird,Lee Cook andSteven Davis – and Brown became surplus to requirements under Sanchez.[26]
Brown signed forWigan Athletic on a three-year deal in July 2007.[27] The manager who signed Brown,Chris Hutchings, was sacked not long after taking charge and replaced by managerSteve Bruce. Under Bruce, Brown formed midfield partnerships withLee Cattermole andWilson Palacios.[28] He went on to make 56 Premier League appearances for the "Latics" in the2007–08 and2008–09 campaigns. However, he fell out of favour at theDW Stadium under new managerRoberto Martínez.
In August 2009, he joined fellowPremier League sidePortsmouth for a nominal fee.[29] On 11 April, Brown helped the club to reach theFA Cup final with a 2–0 victory over his former clubTottenham Hotspur atWembley.[30] He scored his first goal atFratton Park in a 2–1 defeat toAston Villa seven days later.[31] On 15 May, Brown was in the Portsmouth side that lost 1–0 toChelsea in theFA Cup final after a 59th minuteDidier Drogba goal.[32] With Portsmouth in serious financial trouble and many players leaving the club, Brown was a constant throughout the side. Although Portsmouth were relegated at the end of the season, Brown opted to stay at Fratton Park. ManagerAvram Grant also left the club and was replaced bySteve Cotterill.
On 16 October 2010, Brown scored the winning goal in a 3–2 home win overWatford and remained almost ever-present for Portsmouth throughout the following months until both he and "Pompey" teammateRichard Hughes reached the stage where they would both be entitled to new contracts with increased wages which the club could not afford (Brown was reportedly paid £25,000 a week) if they played another game. Brown was offered a revised contract at lower pay but did not accept the offer.[33] Cotterill reluctantly put the players up for sale.[34] Brown played 24 times and scored three goals for Portsmouth during the2010–11 season, with his last game before the contract cause would have been activated coming on 26 December 2010.[35][36] He was released by the club in May 2011, following the expiry of his contract.[37]
Brown signed forChampionship clubLeeds United on a one-year contract with the option of a further year in July 2011.[38][39] He made his debut for the "Whites" on the opening day of the2011–12 season in the 3–1 defeat againstSouthampton.[40] After missing some games with acalf injury, Brown returned to the starting line-up atElland Road againstCrystal Palace on 10 September.[41] He did not play for another month before making his return as a second-half substitute againstLeicester City on 6 November.[42] Brown came into the Leeds side for his first start since early September on 29 November in Leeds' emphatic 4–0 win againstNottingham Forest.[43] During the pre-match warm-up for Leeds' FA Cup game againstArsenal at theEmirates Stadium, Brown kicked a ball into the face of punditMartin Keown who was doing punditrypitch-side withRobbie Savage forESPN's coverage of the game – he claimed that he had in fact been aiming for Savage.[44] He endured numerous spells out of the first-team until managerSimon Grayson was replaced by his former Sheffield United bossNeil Warnock in February 2012. He scored his first goal for Leeds in a 7–3 defeat by Nottingham Forest on 20 March.[45] He was sent off for the first time as a Leeds player when he was given a straight red againstDerby County on 9 April.[46]
Warnock revealed that the contract Brown signed in August 2012 would be on a reduced wage, but he felt Brown was the type of player he wanted to keep around the club both on and off the pitch.[47] Brown scored his first goal of the2012–13 season on 2 November in a 2–2 draw withBrighton & Hove Albion; the goal was awarded to Brown despite deflecting off teammateLuciano Becchio.[48] On 5 April 2013, just days after the sacking of manager Neil Warnock, Brown activated an appearance-based clause on his contract to extend his contract at Leeds into a third year.[49]
Brown played 19 games during the2013–14 season and was released by ownerMassimo Cellino in May 2014.[50] Cellino also believed the number 17 to be unlucky and asked managerBrian McDermott to retire the number following Brown's departure, leaving him to be the last player to wear that number for Leeds, until the number was unretired in 2019, whenHélder Costa wore that shirt number.[51]
Brown signed a one-year contract withLeague One clubPort Vale in July 2014; managerMicky Adams also gave him the responsibility of coaching thereserve team.[52] He scored the only goal of the game on 15 November, helping the "Valiants" to a 1–0 win overRochdale atVale Park;[53] his performance in the match earned him a place on the Football League Team of the Week.[54] He went on to state that he aimed to continue playing football up until he was 40.[55] Despite his age he proved a key first-team player, scoring six goals in 39 appearances in the2014–15 campaign,[56] and had to focus his time on playing rather than coaching.[57]
He lost his first-team place during the2015–16 season, but despite not playing a game for eight weeks, he managed to replace a suspendedAnthony Grant and play the full 90 minutes of a 1–0 win overBury on 28 December.[58] He was named in the Football League Team of the Week for his performance during a 1–0 win atBlackpool on 9 January.[59] In May 2016, chairmanNorman Smurthwaite announced that Brown would assist him in appointing a successor to departing managerRob Page.[60] Brown was appointed as new managerBruno Ribeiro's assistant in June 2016;[61] the pair had played together at Sheffield United.[62] He picked up akneeligament injury in pre-season which kept him out of action for the opening weeks of the2016–17 season.[63] In May 2017, he confirmed he would remain registered as a player to provide emergency cover during the2017–18 season.[64]
Brown made his debut for theEngland under-21s in the 1–0 defeat toCroatia atRoker Park on 23 April 1996.[65] The match was only the second time in England U21 history that none of the starting lineup went on to win senior international caps.[65] The following month he featured in the 1996Toulon Tournament and played in the group games againstBelgium,Angola andPortugal.[65][66]
Bruno Ribeiro resigned as manager of Port Vale on 26 December 2016, and Brown was placed in temporary charge.[67] Four days later Vale recorded a 1–0 home victory overChesterfield in Brown's first match in charge.[68] In the Januarytransfer window he was forced to sell goalkeeperJak Alnwick and reigning Player of the YearAnthony Grant, whilst top-scorerAlex Jones's loan deal expired and six other players left the club; Brown brought in youngstersCallum Guy,Tyler Walker,Olamide Shodipo, Axel Prohouly andLeo Fasan on loan, and signedScott Tanser,Chris Eagles andDanny Pugh onfree transfers.[69] However, his team were dogged by injury problems, and Brown told the media that if he could keep the Vale out of the relegation zone that would be an achievement "off the scale".[70] Having scored just one goal in their final seven games, Vale were relegated at the end of the campaign after drawing their final game 0–0 with Fleetwood,[71] finishing one point short of safety.[72]
Despite being relegated, Brown was confirmed as the club's permanent manager in May 2017.[73] He released 13 players at the end of the2016–17 season.[74] His first summer signing was former two-time Player of the YearTom Pope on a free transfer after he managed to secure his release fromBury.[75] He went on to sign ten more players during the window: goalkeepersRob Lainton andSam Hornby, defendersJoe Davis,Antony Kay,Gavin Gunning,Lawrie Wilson andGraham Kelly, midfieldersMichael Tonge,Cristian Montaño,David Worrall andHarry Middleton, and strikerTyrone Barnett; he also signed youngstersRekeil Pyke,Marcus Harness,Tyler Denton,Ben Whitfield,Jack Stobbs andTom Anderson on loan.[76] However, Vale suffered their worst start to a season in 50 years at the beginning of the2017–18 season, going aclub record six games without scoring a goal as they sat bottom of the table in September following six consecutive league defeats.[77] He was sacked on 16 September following a 1–1 home draw with second-from-bottomForest Green Rovers.[78] Speaking after his sacking, Brown said that it had been difficult for him to recruit quality players on "a very tight budget... I think it was arguably £1m under fromwhen they had got promoted from that league the time previously".[79] Supporter websiteOneValeFan described this as "a somewhat unlikely claim" as the club had only exitedadministration in November 2012.[80]
Since leaving Port Vale in September 2017, Brown has worked as apundit andsummariser forBBC Sport,Sky Sports andQuest.[81][82][83]
Brown was criticised throughout his career for his heavytackling. Throughout his career, he received 137 yellow cards and seven red cards.[84] He was sent off for three clubs in the Premier League, with tackles onRyan Giggs,Ashley Cole andSean Davis being highlighted.[85][86] Davis accused Brown of trying tobreak his leg, a claim which Brown described as "sickening".[87][88] Brown injuredBarnsley captainJacob Butterfield with a tackle in January 2012; Butterfield claimed after the game he felt that the challenge from Brown was 'malicious' and 'intentional' and he revealed that Brown rang him after the game to apologise.[89][90] Hebroke the ankle ofReading'sJem Karacan with a sliding challenge on 7 April 2012; Reading captainJobi McAnuff heavily criticised the challenge after the game.[91]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Manchester City | 1994–95[92] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1995–96[93] | Premier League | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 0 | |
| 1996–97[94] | First Division | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | |
| 1997–98[95] | First Division | 25 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 1 | |
| 1998–99[96] | Second Division | 31 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4[a][b] | 0 | 39 | 3 | |
| 1999–2000[97] | First Division | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 88 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 103 | 4 | ||
| Hartlepool United (loan) | 1996–97[94] | Third Division | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 |
| Portsmouth (loan) | 1999–2000[97] | First Division | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Sheffield United | 1999–2000[97] | First Division | 24 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 3 |
| 2000–01[98] | First Division | 36 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 2 | |
| 2001–02[99] | First Division | 36 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 7 | |
| 2002–03[100] | First Division | 40 | 16 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 3[b] | 2[b] | 54 | 22 | |
| 2003–04[101] | First Division | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 2 | |
| Total | 151 | 27 | 6 | 3 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 174 | 36 | ||
| Tottenham Hotspur | 2003–04[101] | Premier League | 17 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 1 |
| 2004–05[102] | Premier League | 24 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 2 | |
| 2005–06[103] | Premier League | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | |
| Total | 50 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 64 | 3 | ||
| Fulham | 2005–06[103] | Premier League | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| 2006–07[104] | Premier League | 34 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 0 | |
| Total | 41 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 0 | ||
| Wigan Athletic | 2007–08[105] | Premier League | 31 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 0 |
| 2008–09[106] | Premier League | 25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 0 | |
| 2009–10[107] | Premier League | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 58 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 64 | 0 | ||
| Portsmouth | 2009–10[107] | Premier League | 24 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 2 |
| 2010–11[108] | Championship | 21 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 3 | |
| Total | 45 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 57 | 5 | ||
| Leeds United | 2011–12[109] | Championship | 24 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 1 |
| 2012–13[110] | Championship | 24 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 1 | |
| 2013–14[111] | Championship | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 1 | |
| Total | 66 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 78 | 3 | ||
| Port Vale | 2014–15[56] | League One | 36 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1[a] | 0 | 39 | 6 |
| 2015–16[112] | League One | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 14 | 0 | |
| 2016–17[113] | League One | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2017–18[114] | League Two | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Total | 52 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 56 | 6 | ||
| Career total | 561 | 42 | 38 | 5 | 42 | 9 | 9 | 2 | 650 | 58 | ||
| Team | From | To | Record | Ref | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Port Vale | 26 December 2016 | 16 September 2017 | 34 | 6 | 9 | 19 | 017.6 | [67][115] |
| Total | 34 | 6 | 9 | 19 | 017.6 | — | ||
Individual
Manchester City
Portsmouth
