Billy Brown (born 20 December 1950) is a Scottish
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
coach and former player. He previously managed
East Fife and
Cowdenbeath
Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 18 ...
. Brown played in the
Scottish Football League
The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...
for
Motherwell
Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...
and
Raith Rovers
Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leag ...
. He then became a football coach, working at
Berwick Rangers
Berwick Rangers Football Club is a football team based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, England, just south of the border with Scotland.
Founded in 1881, they currently play in the , the fifth tier of Scottish football, despite hailing fr ...
,
Falkirk
Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow.
Falkirk had a ...
,
Hearts,
Bradford City
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes.
Th ...
and
Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...
with longtime colleague
Jim Jefferies.
Club career
Brown was born in
Musselburgh
Musselburgh (; sco, Musselburrae; gd, Baile nam Feusgan) is the largest settlement in East Lothian, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth, east of Edinburgh city centre. It has a population of .
History
The name Musselburgh is Ol ...
. He began his career at
Hull City
Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...
going on to play for
Motherwell
Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...
and
Raith Rovers
Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leag ...
. His senior playing career was ended by a cruciate ligament injury at the age of 28. He continued to play at a junior level with
Newtongrange Star and
Musselburgh Athletic whilst with Musselburgh he became a coach.
Managerial career
Brown became assistant manager to
Jim Jefferies, an old school friend from
Musselburgh Grammar School
Musselburgh Grammar School a state-funded secondary school in Musselburgh, East Lothian, Scotland. It serves as the main secondary school for Musselburgh and the surrounding areas of Wallyford and Whitecraig. The school dates back to the sixtee ...
, at
Berwick Rangers
Berwick Rangers Football Club is a football team based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, England, just south of the border with Scotland.
Founded in 1881, they currently play in the , the fifth tier of Scottish football, despite hailing fr ...
in 1988. Since then he has followed him to
Falkirk
Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow.
Falkirk had a ...
,
Hearts,
Bradford City
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes.
Th ...
and
Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...
. After leaving Kilmarnock with Jefferies in January 2010, Brown and Jefferies returned to
Hearts soon afterwards. Jefferies and Brown were sacked by Hearts on 1 August 2011.
Brown was appointed assistant manager at
Hibernian in September 2011. He was made caretaker manager of the club following the dismissal of
Colin Calderwood
Colin Calderwood (born 20 January 1965) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player. He is the assistant manager at Northampton Town.
As a player, he was a centre-back who notably played in the Premier League for Tottenham Hots ...
in November and was interviewed for the job.
Pat Fenlon
Patrick Fenlon (born 15 March 1969) is an Irish football coach and former player.
Fenlon played as a midfielder for St Patrick's Athletic, Bohemians, Linfield, Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne. As a manager he won five League of Ireland titles ...
was appointed manager, but Brown was retained as assistant manager until June 2012, when his contract expired.
Brown was appointed
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities o ...
of
East Fife in November 2012. Although East Fife struggled during the 2012–13 season, the club won the
Scottish Second Division
The Scottish Football League Second Division was the third tier of the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013.
History
The Second Division was created in 1975, as part of a wider reconstruction of the Scottish Football League (SFL ...
play-offs to stay in the third tier. On 5 June 2013, it was reported that Brown had parted company with East Fife, one month after a widely publicised post-match interview where he angrily criticised the club's fans following a defeat to
Stenhousemuir FC
Stenhousemuir Football Club is a Scottish football club located in Stenhousemuir, Falkirk. They are a member of the Scottish Professional Football League and currently play in Scottish League Two.
Through much of its history, the team has compe ...
.
Brown then returned to
Hearts, working as an unpaid assistant to manager
Gary Locke
Gary Faye Locke (born January 21, 1950) is an American politician and diplomat serving as the interim president of Bellevue College, the largest of the institutions that make up the Washington Community and Technical Colleges system. Locke serv ...
.
Hearts had recently entered
administration
Administration may refer to:
Management of organizations
* Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal
** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...
and could not afford to offer a salary to an assistant coach.
Brown was given a paid short-term contract in September 2013. In January 2014, Brown was informed that his contract would not be renewed. After a delegation of Hearts players met the club administrators, Brown was subsequently given another contract. Brown and Locke left Hearts at the end of the season, after
Ann Budge Ann Cochrane Cook Wallace Budge (born 21 February 1948) is a Scottish businesswoman and company director.
Career
Budge graduated with a psychology degree, and became the first woman appointed to a senior position in Scottish & Newcastle after start ...
took control of the club.
In 2017, Brown assisted Gary Locke during his time as manager of
Cowdenbeath
Cowdenbeath (; sco, Coudenbeith) is a town and burgh in west Fife, Scotland. It is north-east of Dunfermline and north of the capital, Edinburgh. The town grew up around the extensive coalfields of the area and became a police burgh in 18 ...
.
When Locke left Cowdenbeath in July 2017 to take an ambassadorial role with Hearts, Brown was appointed Cowdenbeath manager.
However, with the side 10th in the league after one win in 10, Brown resigned from his position on 31 October 2017.
Manager
References
External links
Neil Brown
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Billy
1950 births
Living people
Motherwell F.C. players
Raith Rovers F.C. players
Newtongrange Star F.C. players
Musselburgh Athletic F.C. players
Kilmarnock F.C. non-playing staff
Heart of Midlothian F.C. non-playing staff
Hibernian F.C. non-playing staff
Hull City A.F.C. players
Bradford City A.F.C. non-playing staff
Scottish Football League players
Association football defenders
Falkirk F.C. non-playing staff
Scottish football managers
East Fife F.C. managers
Cowdenbeath F.C. managers
Scottish Professional Football League managers
Scottish footballers