Scott Brown (footballer, Born June 1985)

Scott Brown (born 25 June 1985) is a Scottish football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He currently manages Scottish Championship club Ayr United. He is widely known for his fourteen-year tenure with Celtic, where he was captain for eleven years and won ten Scottish league championships.

Brown started his career with Hibernian, breaking into their first team in 2002. His only trophy with Hibs was the 2006–07 Scottish League Cup; in that season he also won the SFWA Young Player of the Year award. In May 2007, he transferred to Celtic for a fee of £4.4 million, the highest transfer fee paid between two Scottish clubs.

During Brown's time at Celtic, the club won ten Scottish championships, six Scottish Cups, and six Scottish League Cups. He captained the club to nine consecutive championships, and successive trebles in 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19 and 2019–20. Individually, Brown won the PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year award twice, in 2008–09 and 2017–18, and the Scottish Footballer of the Year award in 2017–18. He made more European appearances for Celtic than any other player. Brown left Celtic in June 2021, when he signed for Aberdeen and also became their assistant manager. He spent nine months at Pittodrie before leaving the club in March 2022 and retiring as a player two months later.

Brown played for Scotland at under-19 and under-21 levels before making his full international debut in November 2005, aged 20. He did not play for Scotland again until March 2007, but then became a regular in the squad. He scored his first goal for the senior team on 5 September 2009 in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification win against Macedonia. In March 2016, he won his 50th cap and was inducted into Scotland's Scottish FA International Roll of Honour.

Following his retirement as a player, Brown became manager of EFL League One club Fleetwood Town in May 2022, but was sacked after just over a year in the job. He then became head coach of Ayr United in January 2024.

Early life

Brown was born on 25 June 1985 in Dunfermline, Scotland. He attended Dalgety Bay Primary School, Hill of Beath Primary School and Beath High School. Former Rangers and Scotland player Jim Baxter was also born in the village and a statue to him stands across the road from the house Brown grew up in.

Club career

Early career

Brown played with Rangers Boys Club and also trained with Falkirk during his childhood. Around this time, Rangers also showed an interest, but informed him that he was too small to make the grade. He joined Hibernian aged 13, after he was spotted by their chief scout John Park. His mother Heather would regularly take Scott to Hibernian training sessions in Edinburgh and Motherwell, where he was coached by Gordon Rae and Keith Wright, among others.

Hibernian

Brown signed for Hibernian as a professional in 2002 and made his debut as a substitute in a 3–1 win against Aberdeen on 3 May 2003. Brown, aged 17, said that he "was very nervous" about going on, but soon changed after he went on. He helped set up all three of Hibs goals in that match. Brown made his first starting appearance the following week, in a 1–0 win against Motherwell. Brown then started in Hibs' remaining two matches of the season and scored in both, a double in a 2–1 win against Livingston and in a 3–2 defeat to Partick Thistle. Brown was part of a "Golden Generation" for Hibs, also including players like Kevin Thomson, Garry O'Connor, Derek Riordan, Steven Whittaker and Steven Fletcher, who all progressed through their youth team at around the same time.

Brown became a regular in the Hibernian team in the 2003–04 season, playing 41 times in all competitions and scoring four goals. Despite only finishing eighth in the SPL, Hibs reached the 2004 League Cup final, defeating both Celtic and Rangers en route, but they lost 2–0 to Livingston in the final. Brown featured in all of the matches in that cup run and scored in the 9–0 win over Montrose in the third round.

Hibs enjoyed greater success under the guidance of new manager Tony Mowbray, finishing third in the 2004–05 Scottish Premier League. Brown missed four months of the season, due to an injury sustained against Celtic. He consequently played in only 23 matches, scoring twice, but this included the second goal in a 3–1 win over Celtic at Celtic Park on 30 April.

The 2005–06 season was also blighted somewhat by injury, as Brown missed most of the second half of the season due to a broken leg sustained in a challenge by Hearts midfielder Julien Brellier. He, therefore, missed the Scottish Cup of the season, coming on as a substitute in a 2–1 win for Hibs. Brown agreed a new contract with Hibs in March 2006.

The 2006–07 season saw Brown emerge as one of the better players in the Scottish game. Brown helped Hibs win their first trophy in sixteen years as they defeated Kilmarnock 5–1 in the League Cup final. Brown handed in a transfer request to the Hibernian assistant manager, Tommy Craig, after their home game against Dundee United on 2 December 2006. The action was thought to be taken on the advice of agent Willie McKay, who Brown had recently appointed. Scotland manager Walter Smith criticised Brown and teammate Kevin Thomson for not showing enough responsibility in their dealings with Hibs, given that they had both recently agreed contracts with the club.

On 31 January 2007, Brown announced that he was retracting his transfer request and was now happy to remain with Hibernian for the duration of his contract, which was due to end in mid-2009. Despite this, media rumours continued to suggest that he would move. Kevin Thomson, who had signed for Rangers in January 2007, claimed to have spoken with Brown about joining him at Rangers. Premier League club Reading confirmed that they reached agreement with Hibernian to sign Brown, but the player refused the move, saying:

Reading were indeed relegated at the end of the 2007–08 season. Despite intense speculation that he would move to Rangers, with Rangers fans taunting Hibs fans that Brown would sign for them, Brown agreed a move to Celtic. Willie McKay commented that Brown was excited about playing for such a successful club and the chance to play in the UEFA Champions League. Brown was transferred for £4.4 million (£ today), the largest transfer fee exchanged between two Scottish clubs. The previous record was the £4 million transfer of Duncan Ferguson from Dundee United to Rangers. Brown scored in his final appearance for Hibs, against Celtic, for whom he had agreed to sign the previous week. During the game he was cheered by both sets of supporters.

Celtic

2007–2010

Brown made his Celtic debut in a goalless draw against Kilmarnock on 5 August 2007. Ten days later, he made his UEFA Champions League debut in a 1–1 draw at Spartak Moscow. Brown cleared a header off the Celtic goal line to keep the scores level. His first goal for Celtic came on 25 August, in a 5–0 win against Hearts. Four days later, he played in the return leg against Spartak. Brown won a penalty in extra time, but it was missed by Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink. Celtic went on to win the resulting penalty shootout to qualify for the Champions League group stage. Brown scored in a 5–1 win over St Mirren on 2 September, one week after scoring against Hearts. He played in Celtic's 2–1 win over reigning European champions Milan at Celtic Park.

On 6 November 2007, Brown was on the receiving end of a heavy tackle by Gilles Binya during Celtic's 1–0 win over Benfica, but he was relatively unhurt. Binya was subsequently given a six match European ban following the dangerous challenge. Celtic finished second in their Champions League group with nine points. They were drawn with Barcelona in the last 16, but Brown missed the 3–2 defeat in the first leg through suspension. He returned for the second leg at the Camp Nou, which Celtic lost 1–0. Brown was suspended for three league matches, including two Old Firm games, in April 2008. Due to this suspension, manager Gordon Strachan chose a midfield pairing of Barry Robson and Paul Hartley for the final weeks of the season. Brown made a total of 48 appearances for Celtic in his first season with the club, scoring three goals.

Early in the 2008–09 season, Strachan praised Brown for re-inventing himself as a more defensive-minded player. Despite taking on these defensive duties, Brown still contributed some goals, such as against his former club Hibernian on 25 October. Brown won the SPL Player of the Month Award for October 2008. In the January transfer window he was linked with a £9 million move to Portsmouth, with Tottenham also reported to be interested in him. Brown stated that he did not want to leave Celtic and that he was happy with the club. Later in the month, he was named by FIFA as one of their players to watch in 2009. He scored his first brace for Celtic in a 7–0 victory over St Mirren on 28 February 2009. Brown was voted Man of the match in the 2009 League Cup Final, which Celtic won 2–0 against Rangers at Hampden Park. and was awarded the SPFA Players' Player of the Year for the 2008–09 season. Due to a suspension, he missed the final Old Firm game of the season, which Celtic lost 1–0. This defeat proved crucial as Rangers regained the championship from Celtic. He suffered an ankle injury towards the end of the season and had to take injections in order to play matches. Brown played 48 times for Celtic during the 2008–09 season, scoring seven goals.

Following the resignation of Strachan at the end of the 2008–09 season, Brown's former Hibs boss Tony Mowbray became Celtic manager. Brown underwent surgery during pre-season in an attempt to rectify his ankle problem, but this didn't work, and he played matches despite not being fully fit. Celtic had a fairly good start to their league campaign, going into the first Old Firm match four points ahead of Rangers, but they lost 2–1. Celtic beat Dynamo Moscow in Champions League qualifying, but then lost the play-off to Arsenal, which meant that they dropped into the Europa League group stage. The 1–0 home defeat by Hamburg on 22 October 2009 was Brown's last action of the year, as Celtic initially chose to rest him in another effort to heal the ankle injury. This proved unsuccessful, and he underwent a second operation in Rotterdam to try and clear up his ankle injury.

Brown made his comeback in February 2010 as a substitute in a 1–0 defeat to Kilmarnock, during which he took the captaincy of the team. Mowbray confirmed later that week that Brown would assume the Celtic captaincy. Brown was sent off in the third Old Firm game of the season, after a confrontation with Rangers player Kyle Lafferty. BBC Sport described the decision to dismiss Brown as "harsh". Mowbray was sacked by Celtic in March 2010 and replaced by Neil Lennon, initially on a caretaker basis. After this, Celtic won their remaining eight league matches of the season. Brown played in all of them, and managed to score in Celtic's 3–1 victory over Kilmarnock on 27 March which was Lennon's first match in charge. On 10 April, Brown played in Celtic's 2–0 Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to First Division side Ross County. Being knocked out of this competition meant that Celtic would finish a season without a trophy for the first time in seven years. After the match, Brown apologised to the Celtic fans for the team's performance and stated that it was the players', and not the manager's, fault that Celtic had lost.

After being appointed manager on a permanent basis during the summer, Neil Lennon retained Brown as captain because he had contributed significantly to Lennon keeping his position. Brown played in many of Celtic's matches during the early stage of the 2010–11 season. He also managed to get his first goal for the club since March when, on 25 September 2010, he scored a "superb volley" against Hibernian. On 2 October, Brown played in Celtic's 3–1 win over Hamilton before leaving for international duty. He suffered an injury during the game that was reported to be a metatarsal injury, which would mean he would be out for six weeks. Celtic later stated that he had in fact suffered a stress reaction in a metatarsal on his right foot and that he would be out for around ten weeks. Lennon expressed his concern at the injury, as Brown had been one of Celtic's key players. Despite initial fears that Brown would be out until the new year he made his return for Celtic on Boxing Day as they beat St Johnstone 2–0 at home. He then started his second match in three days as Celtic beat Motherwell 1–0, however Brown was sent off after receiving a second yellow card in the 89th minute. This meant he would miss the upcoming Old Firm match on 2 January.

2011–2013

Brown scored against Rangers in a Scottish Cup