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

and

. 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

in 1988. Since then he has followed him to

, Hearts,

and

. 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

. 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