Geoffrey Stewart Brown OBE (born c. 1943) is a Scottish businessman. He was chairman of

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

from 1986 until November 2011. In 1970, Brown founded G. S. Brown Construction, which specialises in homebuilding. Brown is still chairman of the company, which is a family business, with two of his sons also on the board of directors. In June 2011, it was revealed that the company was set to become the shirt sponsors of the club, to mark Brown's quarter-century as chairman. Brown took control of St Johnstone in 1986, when they were in deep financial trouble and near the bottom 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 ...

. A

rights issue A rights issue or rights offer is a dividend of subscription rights to buy additional securities in a company made to the company's existing security holders. When the rights are for equity securities, such as shares, in a public company, it can be ...

raised £150,000, which solved the club's short-term financial problems.

Alex Totten Alex Totten (born 12 February 1946) is a Scottish former football player and manager. Playing career Growing up in Dennyloanhead, Stirlingshire, he signed for Liverpool straight from school in 1960 before signing for top division Dundee bac ...

was soon appointed as manager. Under his guidance, the club made a rise from second-bottom in 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 ...

in 1986 to mid-table in the

Scottish Premier Division The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) Th ...

in late 1990. During this period, Brown oversaw the sale of

Muirton Park Muirton Park (1924–1989) was the second of three football grounds the football club St Johnstone from Perth, Scotland, have occupied in their history. It was preceded by the Recreation Grounds (1885–1924) and succeeded by McDiarmi ...

Asda Asda Stores Ltd. () (often styled as ASDA) is a British supermarket chain. It is headquartered in Leeds, England. The company was founded in 1949 when the Asquith family merged their retail business with the Associated Dairies company of York ...

and the club's move to a newly built

McDiarmid Park McDiarmid Park is a stadium in Perth, Scotland, used mainly for association football. It has been the home ground of Scottish Premiership side St Johnstone since its opening in 1989. The stadium has an all-seated capacity of . As well as St Jo ...

stadium in the

Tulloch Tulloch may refer to: People with the surname *Alexander Bruce Tulloch (1838–1920), Major-general in the British Army, author *Bert Tulloch, English footballer *Bitsie Tulloch, American actress *Francis Tulloch (born 1940), Jamaican politician ...

area of the city, which was opened in 1989. In August 2006, to mark Brown's twentieth anniversary as chairman of St Johnstone, the ''

Perthshire Advertiser The ''Perthshire Advertiser'' (originally the ''Perthshire Advertiser and Strathmore Journal'') is a tabloid newspaper, published by Reach plc, in Perth, Scotland. The ''PA'', as it is commonly known, has two editions, a Tuesday and Friday. ...

'' published his best-of-Saints XI from the past two decades: # Alan Main # Mark Treanor #

Callum Davidson Callum Iain Davidson (born 25 June 1976 in Stirling) is a Scottish professional football player and coach. He is the manager of St Johnstone. Davidson played as a left-back for St Johnstone, Blackburn Rovers, Leicester City and Preston North ...

# Tommy Turner # Sergei Baltacha #

Alan Kernaghan Alan Nigel Kernaghan (born 25 April 1967) is a association football, football manager and former professional player. As a player, he was a defender (association football), defender from 1985 to 2006, notably in the Premier League for Manchest ...

Allan Moore Allan Moore (born 25 December 1964) is a Scottish football player and manager. Playing career During his playing career he turned out for several Scottish clubs including Dumbarton, Heart of Midlothian, St Johnstone, Partick Thistle and Mor ...

# John O'Neil # Roddy Grant # Paul Wright #

Harry Curran Henry "Harry" Curran (born 9 October 1966 in Glasgow) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played in midfield for a number of Scottish clubs. Honours St Johnstone *Scottish Football League First Division The Scottish Football ...

Steve Lomas Stephen Martin Lomas (born 18 January 1974) is a Northern Irish football manager and former professional footballer. As a player, Lomas was a midfielder from 1991 to 2010. He had spells in the Premier League for both Manchester City and West Ha ...

was presented to the media as the new St Johnstone manager in November 2011, Brown announced that he was going to pass control of the club to his son Steven.

Personal life

Brown married his wife, Joyce, in 1962 and they have three sons (Stuart, Steve and Scott) and a daughter, Susan. His son, Steve, succeeded him as chairman of St Johnstone. Brown is also a racehorse owner and breeder. Brown underwent a successful operation for

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...

in July 2001. He was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire 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 ...

(OBE) in the

2022 New Year Honours The 2022 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrations ...

for services to Scottish football and the community in Perth.

References

External links

Article from ''The Herald'' – includes a snippet about BrownHail the new manager
Brown (right) with Saints manager

Owen Coyle Owen Columba Coyle (born 14 July 1966) is a professional football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Scottish Championship club Queen's Park. He played as a striker for several clubs in England and Scotland, and made one ...

(centre) and his assistant

Jim Weir James McIntosh Weir (born 15 June 1969) is a Scottish professional football player and coach. Weir played in the senior Scottish leagues for Hamilton Academical, Hearts and St. Johnstone. He has also worked as manager of Montrose, Arbroath, ...

(left) {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Geoff Living people St Johnstone F.C. non-playing staff Chairmen and investors of football clubs in Scotland British racehorse owners and breeders 1943 births 20th-century Scottish businesspeople 21st-century Scottish businesspeople People from Perth, Scotland Officers of the Order of the British Empire