Robert Brown (1869 – after 1901) was an English 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 as an

outside-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 ...

for various clubs at the end of the 19th century, including three years 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 ...

with

Burton Wanderers Burton Wanderers Football Club was a football club based in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The club were members of the Football League for three seasons in the mid 1890s. In 1901 they merged with Burton Swifts to form Burton Unite ...

and a year at

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 1897–98, where he helped win the Southern League championship.

Football career

Brown was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and his professional football career started when he joined

in July 1894 for their first season in the

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

. Over the next three season, Brown rarely missed a match, making a total of 87 league and

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

appearances. At the end of the 1896–97 season, after finishing second last in the League, they were voted out. In May 1897, Brown was given a trial by Southern League champions

and travelled to

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

with Arthur Chadwick of

Burton Swifts Burton Swifts Football Club was a football club based in Burton upon Trent, England. Established in 1871, the club joined the Football League in 1892, remaining members until merging with Burton Wanderers to form Burton United in 1901. Hist ...

. Despite being described in the local press as "''an average type player''", Brown was signed on a professional contract and made his debut at inside-right in a 2–0 defeat at

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Waltham ...

on the opening day of the season, 18 September 1897. Brown retained his place for the next match before giving way to

Willie Naughton William A. Naughton (16 July 1870 – 23 April 1906) was a Scottish professional footballer, who played as an outside-forward for various clubs in Scotland and England in the 1880s and 1890s, including Celtic, Stoke and Southampton. Throughou ...

. Brown returned in January 1898, now playing at

outside-right 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 ...

, ousting

Jimmy Yates James Yates (2 November 1869 – 5 September 1922) was an English professional footballer who played as a right winger in the 1900 FA Cup Final for Southampton. Playing career Yates was born in Tunstall, Stafordshire, but started his professi ...

from the side and went on to make a total of twelve league appearances, scoring twice (in consecutive matches in April). Brown also made one

appearance, when he replaced the injured

Joe Farrell Joseph Carl Firrantello (December 16, 1937 – January 10, 1986), known as Joe Farrell, was an American jazz multi-instrumentalist who primarily performed as a saxophonist and flutist. He is best known for a series of albums under his own name o ...

in the

semi-final A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

replay against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

, when the "Saints" were rather controversially eliminated when goalkeeper

George Clawley George Clawley (10 April 1875 – 16 July 1920) was an English professional goalkeeper who played for Stoke, Southampton and Tottenham Hotspur in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He was the goalkeeper for the Spurs side that ...

had his eyes "''choked with snow''" in a blizzard and conceded two goals in the final minutes of the game. In the 1898 close-season, Southampton signed Tom Smith and Brown was released. He then had seasons at Bristol Rovers, where he was known by the nickname 'Daddy' Brown, and Queens Park Rangers, before winding up his career at Swindon Town.

Honours

;

* Southern League champions: 1897–98

References

External links

Swindon Town profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Bob 1869 births Year of death missing Footballers from Liverpool English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Burton Wanderers F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Southern Football League players English Football League players