Robert Neilson Brown (19 August 1870 – 17 August 1943), sometimes misidentified as J. Brown, was a Scottish

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 ...

whose career included periods at

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

and

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

Club career

Brown was born in Port Eglinton in the south of

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, but moved with his family to Halfway, a district of

Cambuslang Cambuslang ( sco, Cammuslang, from gd, Camas Lang) is a town on the south-eastern outskirts of Greater Glasgow, Scotland. With approximately 30,000 residents, it is the 27th largest town in Scotland by population, although, never having had a ...

, during his childhood. He began his senior career as an at local club Cambuslang F.C. who were founder members of 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 ...

in 1890. He signed for

The Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

before the club gained admission to the

English 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 Engl ...

in 1892, making a name for himself when scoring in a 4–1 defeat of League side

in the

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 ...

shortly after arriving in January of that year. He went on to make 45 appearances in Wednesday's first two League seasons and, after a brief spell back in his native Scotland with

Third Lanark Third Lanark Athletic Club was a Scottish football club based in Glasgow. Founded in 1872 as an offshoot of the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, the club was a founder member of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) in 1872 and the Scottish ...

, he then joined Bolton Wanderers in 1895, moving to a more defensive role and latterly operating as a capable reserve in almost any outfield position as needed; he made 149 appearances at

Burnden Park Burnden Park was the home of English football club Bolton Wanderers who played home games there between 1895 and 1997. As well as hosting the 1901 FA Cup Final replay, it was the scene in 1946 of one of the greatest disasters in English footba ...

, 94 of them in the top flight. Brown also briefly had a loan spell at

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

in 1897, making four appearances but was unable to save them from relegation. He retired in 1902 and settled in

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

International career

While a teenager at Cambuslang, Brown was selected once for the Scotland national team against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

in 1890. The following year he played for the Glasgow FA in their annual challenge match against

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

,Sheffield V. Glasgow
The Glasgow Herald, 12 January 1891 (via Partick Thistle History Archive) and after moving to that city he featured in a 'Midlands v North' representative fixture.

References

;Sources * Scottish footballers Scotland international footballers Footballers from Glasgow Sportspeople from Cambuslang Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Burnley F.C. players 1870 births 1943 deaths Third Lanark A.C. players Association football inside forwards Association football central defenders Cambuslang F.C. players Scottish Football League players Football Alliance players English Football League players Footballers from South Lanarkshire {{Scotland-footy-defender-1870s-stub