Tim Brown (born 6 March 1981) is a

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

former professional

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 ...

and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder of footwear company Allbirds. Brown was one of seven foundation players of the

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...

, being signed in 2007 for the club's inaugural season in the A-League. Brown was known for his high work rate as a box-to-box midfielder, often making trademark late runs into the penalty box where he scored most of his goals.

Club career

Brown's senior career began with

Miramar Rangers Miramar Rangers AFC is an amateur New Zealand association football club in the Wellington suburb of Miramar. The club is one of the most successful in New Zealand having won the Chatham Cup four times and the National League title twice. Over t ...

before moving to the United States where he played for the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,0 ...

and later Richmond Kickers in the

USL Second Division The USL Second Division (commonly referred to as USL-2) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was at the third tier of soccer in the United States, behind Major League Soccer (t ...

Newcastle Jets

In 2006 Brown moved to Australia to join

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australian ...

in the A-League after being noticed by the club in a standout performance for the national team, the

All Whites The New Zealand men's national football team ( mi, Tīma hoka a-motu o Aotearoa) represents New Zealand in men's international football competitions. The team is governed by the governing body for football in New Zealand, New Zealand Footbal ...

, in a 1–1 draw against

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 Fo ...

side

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

in August 2006. He made his A-League debut on 8 October 2006, starting in a 0–2 loss to

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victor ...

. His first goal for the Jets came on 4 November 2006 against Sydney FC. Brown's late equaliser earned the Jets a 1–1 draw at home. At the end of the 2006–07 season, Brown was granted a release by the

to sign a two-year deal with new A-League franchise

, where he was named as

vice-captain Vice-captain, alternate captain (ice hockey) or vice-skip (curling) may refer to a role in a number of sports immediately below the role of captain. The vice-captain may have a number of different roles, including substituting as captain when the r ...

Wellington Phoenix

Brown signed for the

for their inaugural season by head coach Ricki Herbert who was also the coach of the national side, the

. Brown made his first team debut in the 2007 Pre-Season Cup fixture against

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional association football, soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast (New South Wales), Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League, A-League Men, under ...

which Wellington went on to lose 2–0. His A-League debut came on 30 September 2007 in the round 6 clash at home against Perth Glory, a game which Wellington went on to win 4–1. Brown had to wait until his second season with the Phoenix for his first goal for the club, which came in the form of a 76th-minute winner against Sydney FC in round 6 of the 2008–09 season at home on 28 September 2008. He scored two more goals that season. The 2009–10 season was a very successful one for Brown and the Phoenix, with Brown playing a pivotal role in the Phoenix's successful playoffs charge, (the first by a New Zealand club in the A-League) making 26 appearances, all of which he started and scoring 8 goals including an equaliser against former club

in their home minor semi-final, a game the Phoenix won 3–1. On 26 March 2012 Brown announced his retirement from football following the conclusion of the 2011–12 A-League season, to pursue a master's degree in management at either the London School of Economics or Cambridge University. Brown's last game for the Phoenix was a disappointing 3–2 loss to the Perth Glory in the playoffs at the end of the 2011–12 season.

International career

Brown represented New Zealand at Under-20 and Under-23 level before making his full

debut in a 3–0 win over

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...

on 31 May 2004. Brown was included in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup squad in South Africa where he captained the side. Seen as a future All Whites captain, Brown has played all but three of the 14 national team matches since Ricki Herbert took charge in 2005. Brown was a standout in the 1–1 draw at English premier leaguers Charlton Athletic in August 2006, a performance that eventually led to an A-League contract with the Newcastle Jets in Australia. Brown was handed the captain's arm-band for the credible 2–2 draw in Wales in late 2007 May due to the unavailability of regular captain Danny Hay. Given the responsibility of leading his country for the first time against Wales, Brown put on a masterful display in Wrexham with a whole-hearted effort and supplied the ball for Shane Smeltz's second goal. Brown retained the All Whites captaincy for the beginning of

2010 FIFA World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

qualification but was sent off against Vanuatu in Wellington on 21 November 2007. The red card earned Brown a suspension for the World Cup qualifier against New Caledonia and with

Ryan Nelsen Ryan William Nelsen (born 18 October 1977) is a former New Zealand professional football player and former head coach of Major League Soccer side Toronto FC. Nelsen commonly played as a defender, and his professional career began in 1995. He ...

returning after a four-year absence, Brown relinquished the captaincy to the

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

skipper but retained a leadership role in the team as vice-captain. In 2009, another injury-enforced absence of

provided another opportunity for Brown to once again assume the captaincy, leading the All Whites in their third

Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships (AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, ...

campaign and also earning their first-ever point in a senior men's FIFA tournament in a 0–0 draw with

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

. On 14 November 2009 Brown and the All Whites beat

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

1–0 to qualify for the

. On 10 May 2010, Brown was named in New Zealand's final 23-man squad of which he is vice-captain to compete at the

. However Brown sustained a fractured humerus after landing on it awkwardly in a tackle with

Vince Grella Vince is a given name, it is the anglicisation and shortened form of the name Vincent, as well as a surname. It may refer to: Given name People * Vince Agnew (born 1987), American football player * Vince Cable (born 1943), British politicia ...

during a friendly match against Australia on 24 May 2010. Brown had surgery on 27 May in which three screws were inserted to strengthen and support the broken bone. The surgery was a success, but a considerable loss of match fitness during his recovery period coupled with consistent good performances by teammates

Ivan Vicelich Ivan Robert Vicelich ( hr, Vicelić, ; ; born 3 September 1976) is a former New Zealand professional footballer who is currently assistant coach at Auckland City FC in the ASB Premiership. He is his country and Oceania's most-capped interna ...

and

Simon Elliott Simon John Elliott (born 10 June 1974, in Wellington) is a retired New Zealand International footballer who most recently served as head coach of USL Championship side Sacramento Republic FC. Semi-professional and college career Elliott play ...

prevented Brown from making an appearance in New Zealand's historic World Cup 2010 finals campaign.

A-League career statistics

Life after football

On 27 March 2012, Brown announced his intention to retire from the professional game in order to commence a master's degree in management at either the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

. In March 2016, Brown and his co-founder Joey Zwillinger officially launched Allbirds, a company built on the premise of creating environmentally-friendly and sustainable shoes.

References

External links

Wellington Phoenix profileNZ Football Profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Tim 1981 births A-League Men players Cincinnati Bearcats men's soccer players Living people New Zealand international footballers New Zealand association footballers Newcastle Jets FC players People from Ascot, Berkshire Richmond Kickers players USL First Division players USL Second Division players Wellington Phoenix FC players 2004 OFC Nations Cup players 2008 OFC Nations Cup players 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players Miramar Rangers AFC players A-League (1995–2004) players Association football midfielders New Zealand businesspeople