Charles Brown (14 January 1898 – 2 February 1979) 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 lea ...

who played at

outside-right In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bein ...

for

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

and

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

in the 1920s.

Football career

Brown was born in

Stakeford Stakeford is a large village in south east Northumberland, England. Its about north of Newcastle upon Tyne. It lies south of the River Wansbeck from Ashington, the nearest town. The village takes its name from the former river crossing to ...

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

and played for his local non-league side where he was spotted by a

scout Scout may refer to: Youth movement *Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom ** Scouts BSA, sect ...

from

. He signed for the "Saints" in March 1920, and played the last three Southern League matches in April/May 1920, playing at

inside-right In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bein ...

alongside

Arthur Dominy Arthur Albert Dominy (11 February 1893 – 23 September 1974) was an English professional footballer, who played as an inside-forward, and football manager, spending most of his career with Southampton. Playing career Southampton He played h ...

and Jimmy Moore. Under manager

Jimmy McIntyre James Alfred McIntyre (31 October 1881 – 1954) was an English footballer who became manager at Southampton, Coventry City and Fulham. Playing career McIntyre was born in Wednesbury, Staffordshire. He was a journeyman player of some reput ...

, the Saints were admitted into Division 3 of the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...

, in common with most clubs in the Southern League Division One. Brown made intermittent appearances in the early part of the season, but in December he was dropped following a poor game at

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

. He was re-called to the side in March, taking over at

from Joe Barratt and retained his place for the rest of the season. In 1921–22, Brown was used as cover for Barratt and was in and out of the side until Barratt was sold to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

in March, when Brown made the No. 7 shirt his own. In the following season, Brown was a permanent fixture until early December when an injury caused him to miss a month, with Robert Blyth taking over. Brown regained his place in January for the rest of the season, and also played an important part in the Saints'

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

run, where they reached the Fourth Round going out to eventual cup winners,

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

after two replays. Brown was described as a "''quick and crafty''" winger, whose play "''had a subtle way of drawing a defence before centring''". Unfortunately for the Dell faithful, his best play tended to come in away matches and the Dell crowd seemed to unsettle him. For the start of the 1923–24 season, Brown lost his place to

Sammy Meston Samuel William Meston (30 May 1902 – 12 October 1953) was a professional footballer who played as a winger for Tranmere Rovers as well as for Southampton, Gillingham and Everton. Playing career He was the son of a former Southampton player ...

, but regained his place after the first six matches before new signing Bill Henderson took over in November. In August 1924, Brown moved to

where he had two good seasons before dropping down to

non-league football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

Later career

In 1926, Brown returned to

to live and took up employment with

Supermarine Supermarine was a British aircraft manufacturer. It is most famous for producing the Spitfire fighter plane during World War II. The company built a range of seaplanes and flying boats, winning the Schneider Trophy for seaplanes with three cons ...

at Woolston, before joining

Vosper Thornycroft VTG (formerly VT Group) is a privately held United States defense and services company, with its origins in a former British shipbuilding group, previously known as Vosper Thornycroft. The British part of VTG was integrated into Babcock Interna ...

in 1936 where he remained until his retirement in 1967.

Honours

Southampton *

Football League Third Division South The Third Division South of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to ...

champions: 1921–22

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Charlie 1898 births 1979 deaths People from Stakeford Footballers from Northumberland English men's footballers Southampton F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Poole Town F.C. players Men's association football forwards English Football League players Southern Football League players 20th-century English sportsmen