George "Gee Gee" Gravar Brown (born 17 January 1880) was a

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 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 ...

. Born in

Kirkley Kirkley is a district within the town of Lowestoft in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. It is located south of the centre of Lowestoft and the town's harbour and Lake Lothing. Kirkley was origin ...

in Suffolk, England he started his career with his home town club

before spells at

Dulwich Hamlet Dulwich Hamlet Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in East Dulwich in south-east London, England. They are currently members of and play at Champion Hill. History The club was formed in 1893, by Lorraine 'Pa' Wilson. T ...

and Woolwich Arsenal. He joined

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

in 1903 where he turned professional, before moving to

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

, Millwall Athletic,

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the Football League in 1893 and remained members of the Second Division until 1912, making Gainsbo ...

and finally

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

Playing career

Brown began his football career as an amateur with his home town club of

some time around the end of the Nineteenth Century before moving to London to join another amateur side

. In 1903 he joined Woolwich Arsenal but failed to make an appearance before moving north to sign for

Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

a year later. Brown made his

debut whilst at Stoke, in a home fixture against

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 ...

on 1 September 1904. He made eight league appearances in total whilst at Stoke before moving to

in 1905. Having made nineteen league appearances for Norwich, scoring one goal, he returned to London to sign for Millwall Athletic in 1906. Having made 25 league appearances for Millwall, Brown returned north the following season to sign for

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

side

. After making 18 league appearances for Trinity, Brown was transferred to

as a make-weight in the deal that took fellow Trinity player Joe Kitchen to

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramal ...

in March 1908, the pair moving for a combined fee of £600. Brown's United career got off to a poor start as he was late arriving for his debut game, an away fixture at

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, having missed his rail connection at

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

and had to take to the field two minutes into the game. Signed on the basis of being a "fast and tricky" winger, he failed to impress, with the local media claiming that he 'held onto the ball too long', and he made only one more league appearance for the Blades before being released at the end of the 1908–09 season.

Personal life

After his football career finished it was reported in 1925 that Brown was the caretaker of the British Seaman's Institute in

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tar ...

in Spain. He returned to England before the outbreak of the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...

and later took up positions as clerk of works at various airfields that were being built.

Career statistics

Source:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, George 1880 births Sportspeople from Lowestoft Footballers from Suffolk English men's footballers English Football League players Men's association football wingers Kirkley & Pakefield F.C. players Dulwich Hamlet F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Year of death missing