James Craig Brown (born 1 July 1940) is a Scottish former professional

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 ...

player and manager. After his playing career with Rangers,

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

and

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 ...

was curtailed by a series of knee injuries, Brown entered management with

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

in 1977. Brown then coached various Scotland youth teams until he was appointed

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

manager in 1993. He held this position until 2001, the longest tenure for a Scotland manager, and they qualified for the

UEFA Euro 1996 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 ...

and

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...

tournaments. Brown later managed

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

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

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. He retired from management in 2013 and was appointed a non-executive director of Aberdeen. Brown was awarded the

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1999 for services to football.

Early life

Brown was born in Glasgow, but brought up with two younger brothers in

Troon Troon is a town in South Ayrshire, situated on the west coast of Ayrshire in Scotland, about north of Ayr and northwest of Glasgow Prestwick Airport. Troon has a port with freight services and a yacht marina. Up until January 2016, P&O Ferrie ...

Rutherglen Rutherglen (, sco, Ruglen, gd, An Ruadh-Ghleann) is a town in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, immediately south-east of the city of Glasgow, from its centre and directly south of the River Clyde. Having existed as a Lanarkshire burgh in its own ...

and

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

, moving with his father's career as a physical education teacher, later a senior advisor on the subject.The Game of My Life
Craig Brown, Kings Road Publishing, 2013, He was a keen golfer as well as watching Queen's Park and

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish association football, football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championshi ...

matches.

Playing career

Early career

Educated at the former

Hamilton Academy Hamilton Academy was a school in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The school was described as "one of the finest schools in Scotland" in the Cambridge University Press County Biography of 1910, and was featured in a 1950 Scottish Seconda ...

, Brown played for the school in Scottish schools competitions and in youth international teams, before joining Rangers in 1957, being considered a top prospect; he was initially farmed out to Coltness United to gain experience, and was selected for the Scotland Junior squad. He failed to find a regular first team place at Rangers, with his progress halted by a knee injury and the arrival of

Jim Baxter James Curran Baxter (29 September 1939 – 14 April 2001) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a left half. He is generally regarded as one of the country's greatest ever players. He was born, educated and started his career i ...

who played in the same position, and moved to

on loan in October 1960.

Dundee

Brown was the first signing of Dundee manager

Bob Shankly Robert Fleming Blyth Shankly (25 February 1910 – 5 May 1982) was a professional football player and manager from the village of Glenbuck in Ayrshire, Scotland. He was the elder brother to Bill Shankly the former Liverpool manager. Bob Shankl ...

. Although knee surgery meant he barely played for the first team during his loan, the move was made permanent in the summer of 1961. Brown always traveled with the Dundee first team squad but this was before substitutes were commonly used. Thus he didn't make a competitive appearance until November 1961, then waited until February 1962 for his league debut when captain

Bobby Cox Robert Joe Cox (born May 21, 1941) is an American former professional baseball third baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB). Cox played for the New York Yankees and managed the Atlanta Braves and Toronto Blue Jays. He is a member of ...

was injured. Brown played in nine consecutive league games before becoming injured himself on 31 March in a 3–2 win against bottom placed

Stirling Albion Stirling Albion Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Stirling. The club was founded in 1945 following the demise of King's Park after World War II. The club currently competes in Scottish League Two as a member of the ...

.Played for Dundee and Rangers – Craig Brown
Dundee FC, 25 February 2019 Dundee won the Scottish league title that season and Brown's nine appearances entitled him to a medal. Brown stayed at Dundee for four and a half injury-affected years, making 16 total appearances for the ''Dark Blues'' but playing no active part in the club's

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

run, or the

1964 Scottish Cup Final The 1963–64 Scottish Cup was the 79th staging of Scotland's most prestigious football knockout competition. The Cup was won by Rangers who defeated Dundee in the final. First round Replays Second round Replays Third round ...

which they lost to Rangers. During that time he also completed a course in physical education and primary teaching at

Jordanhill College Jordanhill Campus is an historic estate within the boundaries of Jordanhill, Glasgow, Scotland, which developed as a country estate. It is best known and most recently used as the home to the Faculty of Education of the University of Strathcl ...

, and was also a member of the pop music group ''Hammy and the Hamsters'' formed by six Dundee players.

Falkirk

Brown signed for

in 1965 on a part-time basis and went on to make 42 total appearances at

Brockville Brockville, formerly Elizabethtown, is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada, in the Thousand Islands region. Although it is the seat of the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville, it is politically Independent city, independent of the county. It i ...

. He was released in 1967 and signed for

Stranraer Stranraer ( , in Scotland also ; gd, An t-Sròn Reamhar ), also known as The Toon, is a town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is located in the historical parish of Inch in the historic county of Wigtownshire. It lies on the shores of L ...

, but his injured knee almost immediately required him to call time on his playing career, and he returned the signing-on fee he had received from the club.

Managerial career

Clyde

Brown quickly showed a keen interest in being involved in the coaching side of football and he became assistant manager of

in 1974. He got his first managerial job as part-time manager of

in 1977, where he spent ten seasons – winning the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

championship in his first season – whilst also working as a primary school head teacher then a lecturer in primary education at Craigie College, Ayr.

Scotland

Brown returned to football full-time in 1986 when SFA Secretary Ernie Walker appointed him as assistant manager to the national men's senior team. Brown was also in charge of Scotland's youth teams. In 1989, he coached Scotland's Under-16s to the final of the

1989 FIFA U-16 World Championship The 1989 FIFA U-16 World Championship, the third edition of the tournament, was held in the Scottish cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Motherwell, Aberdeen, and Dundee between 10 June and 24 June 1989. Players born after 1 August 1972 could participa ...

and three years later coached the under-21s to the semi finals of the 1992 UEFA Under-21 Championship. Brown was appointed as manager of Scotland in December 1993, having been caretaker manager for the games against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

. Brown took Scotland to

Euro 96 The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 ...

and the 1998 World Cup, but resigned in October 2001, having failed to take Scotland to

Euro 2000 The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

and the

2002 World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

. He was replaced by German

Berti Vogts Hans-Hubert "Berti" Vogts (; born 30 December 1946) is a German former professional footballer who played as a defender. He played for Borussia Mönchengladbach in the Bundesliga his whole professional club career and won the FIFA World Cup wi ...

. Under Brown, Scotland beat

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the last Euro Championship qualifier at the old

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

in 1999 by one goal to nil, although they lost the tie 2–1 on aggregate. He took charge of Scotland for 70 international matches, more than any other Scotland manager.

Preston North End

Brown then had a spell in club management when he was appointed as manager of

in April 2002, but left by mutual consent on 29 August 2004 after a poor start to the league campaign. He later had a brief spell as football consultant at

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

under former protégé Billy Davies, helping them win promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

in 2006–07. In October 2008, sixty eight year old Brown was linked to the vacant managerial position with

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as t ...

side

, but the job went to

Jocky Scott John Alexander "Jocky" Scott (born 14 January 1948) is a Scottish football coach and former player. During his playing career he played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Seattle Sounders and Scotland. An extensive management career followed with spells at ...

Motherwell

On 28 December 2009, it was announced that Brown would be taking charge of

, with Archie Knox as his assistant. Brown and Knox established Motherwell in the top six of the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

during their time in charge.

Aberdeen

Brown, who was working without a contract at Motherwell, rebuffed an initial approach by

on 8 December 2010. He then had a change of heart after a second approach was made, and was appointed Aberdeen manager on 10 December. On 14 March 2013, Brown announced he was retiring from football management at the end of the 2012–13 season. His retirement date was brought forward when

Derek McInnes Derek John McInnes (born 5 July 1971) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Scottish Premiership club Kilmarnock. He featured prominently for Greenock Morton, Rangers, West Bromwich Albion and Dund ...

was appointed to the position on 5 April, with Brown accepting a position on the Aberdeen board.

Personal life

Brown was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Arts by

Abertay University , mottoeng = "Blessed is the one who finds wisdom." , established = 1994 – granted University Status 1888 – Dundee Institute of Technology , type = Public , chancellor = Alice Brown , principal = Liz Bacon , head_label = Chair of C ...

in 2001. He has two brothers: Jock was a football commentator, and Bob was the minister at Queen's Cross Parish Church in Aberdeen from 1984 until his retirement in 2008. Brown's grandson and namesake, Craig, plays for

Stirling University The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built w ...

in the

Lowland League The Scottish Lowland Football League (SLFL, commonly known as the Lowland League) is a senior association football, football league based in central and southern Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system, actin ...

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player

;Dundee * Scottish league champion: 1961–62

Manager

;Clyde *

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 ...

(2): 1977–78, 1981–82 ; Scotland U21 * UEFA under-21 Euros: Bronze

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

Toulon Tournament The Toulon Tournament (officially the Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) is a football (training match) tournament, which traditionally features invited national teams composed of youth players from U-17 to U-23 level. ...

: Bronze 1991, 1993 ;Personal * Scottish Premier League manager of the month (4): January 2010, February 2010, January 2012 and October 2012

References

External links

Clyde FC Hall of Fame profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Craig 1940 births Living people People educated at Hamilton Academy Scottish footballers Association football wing halves Rangers F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Falkirk F.C. players Scottish Football League players Scottish football managers Clyde F.C. managers Preston North End F.C. managers Derby County F.C. non-playing staff Motherwell F.C. managers Motherwell F.C. non-playing staff Scottish Premier League managers Aberdeen F.C. managers Scotland national football team managers UEFA Euro 1996 managers 1998 FIFA World Cup managers Alumni of the Open University Scottish Football Hall of Fame inductees Scottish Football League managers Footballers from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire Scotland national under-21 football team managers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Directors of football clubs in Scotland Scottish schoolteachers Scotland junior international footballers Alumni of the University of Strathclyde Newmains United Community F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players