Henry Brown (11 November 1883 – 9 February 1934) was an English

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 as an

inside forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

for various clubs in the early part of the twentieth century, including

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

and

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

(two spells). At Newcastle, he was a member of the team that won 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 ...

championship in

1906–07 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

Football career

Northampton Town and West Bromwich Albion

Brown was born in

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

and started his professional career in 1902 with

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

in the Southern League before moving up to

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 ...

, joining

in November 1903. He scored three goals in 21 league appearances but was unable to prevent Albion from being relegated from the First Division at the end of the 1903–04 season. He spent one more season with Albion in 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 ...

before moving back to the Southern League when he joined

in April 1905.

Southampton (1905–1906)

Brown made his "Saints" debut on 23 September 1905, when he replaced George Harris at

inside-left Forwards (also known as attackers) are Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring Goal (sport)#Association footbal ...

in a 2–1 victory at

. For the rest of the season, the No. 10 shirt would alternate between Brown and Harris. Described as "''a clever ball player''", Brown had a "''deceptive style which often disconcerted his opponents''" thus giving his team-mates goal-scoring opportunities. He was also a goal-scorer in his own right and in his first season at The Dell he scored ten league and four

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 ...

goals from a total of 23 appearances, thus making him the club's top goal-scorer (with Fred Harrison) for the 1905–06 season. Included in his goal tally were a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in a 9–1 victory over his home-town club,

, on 27 January 1906 and two against local rivals,

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, in a 5–1 victory in the

on 13 January.

Newcastle United

His goal-scoring talents were noticed by

and in May 1906 he accepted the "''tempting terms''" offered to him and moved to

St James' Park St James' Park is a football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Premier League club Newcastle United F.C. With a seating capacity of 52,305 seats, it is the eighth largest football stadium in England. St James' Park ...

for a fee of £380, together with his Southampton team-mate

Jimmy Soye James Soye (14 April 1885 – 7 October 1974) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as an inside-forward for various clubs in Scotland, Ireland and England in the period prior to World War I. Football career Soye was born in the Gov ...

. He made an immediate impact on

Tyneside Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt. The population of Tyneside as published i ...

, scoring a hat-trick on his debut in a 4–2 victory at

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

on 8 September 1906. His spell at Newcastle was brief but highly successful, as they claimed

championship at the end of the 1906–07 season by three points over

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

. Brown also scored twice on 9 March 1907 in the Charity Shield Final in a 5–2 victory over top amateur club

Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to: *Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible: **First Epistle to the Corinthians **Second Epistle to the Corinthians **Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox) *A demonym relating to ...

.Corinthian 2 Newcastle United 5 (9 March 1907 – Match summary)
/ref> Although Brown made two appearances at the start of the following season, he lost his place at

inside left Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

Finlay Speedie Finlay Ballantyne Speedie (18 August 1880 – 5 February 1953) was a Scottish footballer who played for Rangers, Newcastle United and Scotland in the 1900s. He was a versatile forward who was most at home at inside left. Career Speedie began hi ...

and in October 1907 he moved to

Bradford Park Avenue Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club is an association football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in , at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The name derived from their former hom ...

Bradford Park Avenue and Fulham

Bradford had previously been a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

team and had only started playing

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 ...

in 1907 and, despite their geographical situation, were playing their inaugural season in the Southern League. After six months with Bradford, Brown returned to the Football League when he joined

in March 1908. He remained with Fulham for two full seasons in the Second Division (finishing in the upper part of the table) before returning to Southampton in September 1910.

Southampton (1910–1913)

Brown decided to retire to

and had bought the Kingsland Tavern in St Mary's Street from another ex-Saint,

Tom Nicol Thomas Nicol (24 February 1870 – 10 June 1915) was a Scottish footballer who played for Burnley first as a centre forward and then as a full back in the 1890s, before later becoming a bowls champion in Southampton. Football career Burnley ...

. The "Saints" had made a poor start to the 1910–11 Southern League season having won only once in their first six games, and Brown was persuaded to re-join the club in October, replacing Bill Buckenham who returned to the Army. With Brown playing alongside Frank Jefferis and new signings

Sid Kimpton Gabriel Sibley "Sid" Kimpton, also known as George Kimpton, (12 August 1887 – 15 February 1968) was an English football player, who spent his entire playing career with Southampton and subsequently became a manager in Europe. Playing career K ...

and Martin Dunne, the team started to turn the season round and in the six weeks from the start of November 1910 they won six out of seven games with Brown scoring six goals, including a hat-trick in a 5–0 victory over

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

. From January onwards, however, the season took a turn for the worse and the team only managed two more victories narrowly avoiding relegation at the end of the season, with Brown only scoring twice more. Nonetheless, Brown's tally of nine league and cup goals made him the club's top goal-scorer for the season, jointly with Dunne. By now, Brown had begun to slow but his "''clever touches ... served the club well''" for two further seasons, in both of which the Saints continued to struggle at the lower end of the table finishing a few places above the relegation zone. In 1911–12, Brown shared the

duties with

Archie Small Archibald Rammell Small (1889–1955) was an English amateur footballer who played at inside-forward for Southampton in the years prior to World War I. Football career Small was born in Droitwich, Worcestershire and was a prominent member of t ...

, scoring seven goals from 29 league appearances, but in 1912–13 he only made six appearances and his final match came on 23 November 1912 (a 2–0 home victory over

), a week after the team had suffered their worst-ever defeat in a competitive match, losing 8–0 at

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building * ...

. In his two spells for Southampton, Brown made a total of 81 appearances in all competitions, scoring 31 goals.

After football

In the summer of 1913, Brown retired although he did turn out for local club

Woolston Woolston may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Woolston, Cheshire, a village and civil parish in Warrington * Woolston, Devon, on the list of United Kingdom locations: Woof-Wy near Kingsbridge, Devon * Woolston, Southampton, a city suburb in Ham ...

until the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. During the war, he worked in motor transport and afterwards he took over a greengrocery shop in Padwell Road, about half a mile from The Dell. In 1933, he contracted a virus which attacked his

optic nerve In neuroanatomy, the optic nerve, also known as the second cranial nerve, cranial nerve II, or simply CN II, is a paired cranial nerve that transmits visual system, visual information from the retina to the brain. In humans, the optic nerve i ...

causing him to lose his sight. The disease spread rapidly, and he died in February 1934 aged only 50.

Honours

Newcastle United *

champions:

* Charity Shield winners: 1907

References

External links

Newcastle United career details
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Harry 1883 births Footballers from Northampton 1934 deaths English men's footballers English Football League players Southern Football League players Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Southampton F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Men's association football inside forwards