William Ian Brown (6 September 1910 – 15 January 1993) was a professional

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 a number of positions in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

, Luton Town, Leyton Orient and Huddersfield Town.

Career

Brown began his career in

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

with Fairbairn House and Silvertown, before joining

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

club Luton Town in 1930. He made shy of 50 league appearances in four seasons at

Kenilworth Road Kenilworth Road is an association football stadium in Luton, Bedfordshire, England. It has been the home ground of Luton Town F.C., Luton Town Football Club since 1905. The stadium has also hosted women's and youth international matches, includ ...

, before moving to the

top flight Top Flight (April 15, 1929 – 1949) was an American U.S. Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse. She was the leading American filly of her generation at two and three years of age. Background Bred in Kentucky by the very prominent horseman Harry ...

with Huddersfield Town in 1934. He was used sparingly before joining First Division rivals

in March 1937 as a replacement for

Dai Richards David Thomas Richards (31 October 1906 – 1 October 1969) was a Welsh professional footballer who made over 210 appearances as a left half in the Football League for Wolverhampton Wanderers. He also played league football for Birmingham and B ...

. He quickly became a regular with the Bees, playing in both full back positions, at half back and

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

during the years before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

intervened. Brown remained with Brentford during the war, with his 246 appearances being the most by any Brentford player during wartime. He dropped down to the

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

to sign for Leyton Orient in May 1947, before ending his career in the Southern League with Chingford Town the following year.

Career statistics

Honours

Brentford *

London War Cup The London War Cup was an English football competition held during the Second World War. It was established to be a wartime replacement for the FA Cup, which had been suspended for the duration of the conflict. Although called the London War Cu ...

: 1941–42

References

* 1910 births 1993 deaths Footballers from Silvertown English men's footballers English Football League players Luton Town F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Chingford Town F.C. players Southern Football League players Leyton Orient F.C. players Men's association football utility players Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football wing halves Men's association football forwards {{England-footy-defender-1910s-stub