Arthur Charles Brown (born 1888) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

and

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in the years prior to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Football career

Brown was born in

Cowes Cowes () is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes Floa ...

on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Isle of ...

and was a student at Hartley College, part of the

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

. Whilst at the college, he signed for

of the Southern League as an amateur. After a spell at

, he signed for

in April 1907. Brown remained with "Pompey" for three years, where he was the third choice 'keeper behind Tom McDonald and Tom Cope, making only nine Southern League appearances, before a move back up the Solent to re-join Southampton in the summer of 1910. Brown made his first-team debut for the "Saints", replacing

Tom Burrows Thomas George Burrows (born 5 May 1985) is an English lawyer and former cricketer. Burrows was born at Wokingham in May 1985. He was educated at Reading School. A wicket-keeper, Burrows initially played minor counties cricket for Berkshire, ...

against Brighton & Hove Albion on 24 October 1910. He soon made the goalkeeping shirt his own, making 26 league and FA Cup appearances in 1910–11, although Burrows replaced him for six matches at the end of the season. He regained his place in goal for the start of the following season, before

William Knight William, Bill, or Billy Knight may refer to: Arts and entertainment * William Frederick Knight (1933–2022), voice actor * William Henry Knight (1823–1863), British painter Politics * William Knight (died 1622), Member of Parliament (MP) for ...

replaced him in November 1911, making only four further first-team appearances. In 1912, he was selected as the (non-playing) reserve goalkeeper for the

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

team at the

1912 Olympic Games Year 191 ( CXCI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Apronianus and Bradua (or, less frequently, year 944 ''Ab urbe condit ...

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Later career

Soon after the Olympics, he emigrated to Canada, where he took up the position of Chief Civil Engineer on a £6 million dock scheme in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Arthur 1888 births Year of death missing People from Cowes English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Southern Football League players Cowes Sports F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Southampton F.C. players English emigrants to Canada