Harry Brown (footballer born 1883)
Encyclopedia
Henry "Harry" Brown was an English footballer who played as an inside forward
for various clubs in the early part of the twentieth century, including West Bromwich Albion
, Newcastle United
, Fulham
and Southampton
(two spells). At Newcastle, he was a member of the team that won the Football League championship in 1906–07.
and started his professional career in 1902 with Northampton Town
in the Southern League
before moving up to the Football League
, joining West Bromwich Albion
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
before moving back to the Southern League when he joined Southampton
in April 1905.
at inside-left in a 2–1 victory at Northampton
. 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
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
in a 9–1 victory over his home-town club, Northampton Town
, on 27 January 1906 and two against local rivals, Portsmouth
, in a 5–1 victory in the FA Cup
on 13 January.
and in May 1906 he accepted the "tempting terms" offered to him and moved to St James' Park
for a fee of £380, together with his Southampton team-mate Jimmy Soye
. He made an immediate impact on Tyneside
, scoring a hat-trick on his debut in a 4–2 victory at Birmingham City
on 8 September 1906. His spell at Newcastle was brief but highly successful, as they claimed the Football League
championship at the end of the 1906–07 season by three points over Bristol City
. Brown also scored twice on 9 March 1907 in the Charity Shield final in a 5–2 victory over top amateur club Corinthian.
Although Brown made two appearances at the start of the following season, he lost his place at inside left to Finlay Speedie
and in October 1907 he moved to Bradford Park Avenue
.
team and had only started playing football 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 Fulham
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.
and had bought the Kingsland Tavern in St Mary's Street from another ex-Saint, Tom Nicol
. 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
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
. 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 inside-left duties with Archie Small
, 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 Plymouth Argyle
), a week after the team had suffered their worst-ever defeat in a competitive match, losing 8–0 at Crystal Palace
.
In his two spells for Southampton, Brown made a total of 81 appearances in all competitions, scoring 31 goals.
. During the war, he worked in motor transport and afterwards he took over a greengrocer
y shop in Padwell Road, about half a mile from The Dell.
In 1933, he contracted a virus which attacked his optic nerve
causing him to lose his sight. The disease spread rapidly, and he died in February 1934 aged only 50.
Inside forward
In football, the position of inside forward was popularly used in the late nineteenth and first half of the 20th centuries. The inside forwards would support the centre forwards, running and making space in the opposition defence, and, as the passing game developed, supporting him with passes...
for various clubs in the early part of the twentieth century, including West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion F.C.
West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...
, Newcastle United
Newcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
, Fulham
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...
and Southampton
Southampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...
(two spells). At Newcastle, he was a member of the team that won the Football League championship in 1906–07.
Northampton Town and West Bromwich Albion
Brown was born in NorthamptonNorthampton
Northampton is a large market town and local government district in the East Midlands region of England. Situated about north-west of London and around south-east of Birmingham, Northampton lies on the River Nene and is the county town of Northamptonshire. The demonym of Northampton is...
and started his professional career in 1902 with Northampton Town
Northampton Town F.C.
Northampton Town Football Club are an English professional football club based in Northampton, Northamptonshire. They currently play in Football League Two, the lowest league division, after being relegated from League One on the last day of the 2008–09 season...
in the Southern League
Southern Football League
The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...
before moving up to the Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
, joining West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion F.C.
West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...
in November 1903. He scored three goals in 21 league appearances but was unable to prevent Albion from being relegated from the First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....
at the end of the 1903–04 season.
He spent one more season with Albion in the Second Division
Football League Second Division
From 1892 until 1992, the Football League Second Division was the second highest division overall in English football.This ended with the creation of the FA Premier League, prior to the start of the 1992–93 season, which caused an administrative split between The Football League and the teams...
before moving back to the Southern League when he joined Southampton
Southampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...
in April 1905.
Southampton (1905–1906)
Brown made his "Saints" debut on 23 September 1905, when he replaced George HarrisGeorge Harris (footballer born 1877)
George Harris was an English professional footballer who played at inside-left for various clubs in the 1900s.-Football career:Harris was born in Rocester, Staffordshire and started his football career at nearby Uttoxeter, from where he joined the local Football League First Division side, Stoke...
at inside-left in a 2–1 victory at Northampton
Northampton Town F.C.
Northampton Town Football Club are an English professional football club based in Northampton, Northamptonshire. They currently play in Football League Two, the lowest league division, after being relegated from League One on the last day of the 2008–09 season...
. 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
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
goals from a total of 23 appearances, thus making him the club's top goal-scorer
Southampton F.C. seasons
This is a list of seasons played by Southampton Football Club in English and European football, from 1892 to the most recent completed season. The first six seasons are Southampton St. Mary's....
(with Fred Harrison) for the 1905–06 season. Included in his goal tally were a hat-trick
Hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...
in a 9–1 victory over his home-town club, Northampton Town
Northampton Town F.C.
Northampton Town Football Club are an English professional football club based in Northampton, Northamptonshire. They currently play in Football League Two, the lowest league division, after being relegated from League One on the last day of the 2008–09 season...
, on 27 January 1906 and two against local rivals, Portsmouth
Portsmouth F.C.
Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...
, in a 5–1 victory in the FA Cup
FA Cup 1905–06
The FA Cup 1905–06 was the 35th staging of the world's oldest association football competition, the Football Association Challenge Cup...
on 13 January.
Newcastle United
His goal-scoring talents were noticed by Newcastle UnitedNewcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
and in May 1906 he accepted the "tempting terms" offered to him and moved to St James' Park
St James' Park
St James' Park, known for sponsorship reasons as the Sports Direct Arena, is an all-seater stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Newcastle United Football Club and is the sixth largest football stadium in the United Kingdom with a capacity of between 52,387 and 52,409.St James'...
for a fee of £380, together with his Southampton team-mate Jimmy Soye
Jimmy Soye
James "Jimmy" Soye 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:...
. He made an immediate impact on Tyneside
Tyneside
Tyneside is a conurbation in North East England, defined by the Office of National Statistics, which is home to over 80% of the population of Tyne and Wear. It includes the city of Newcastle upon Tyne and the Metropolitan Boroughs of Gateshead, North Tyneside and South Tyneside — all settlements on...
, scoring a hat-trick on his debut in a 4–2 victory at Birmingham City
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...
on 8 September 1906. His spell at Newcastle was brief but highly successful, as they claimed the Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
championship at the end of the 1906–07 season by three points over Bristol City
Bristol City F.C.
Bristol City Football Club is one of two football league clubs in Bristol, England . They play at Ashton Gate, located in the south-west of the City...
. Brown also scored twice on 9 March 1907 in the Charity Shield final in a 5–2 victory over top amateur club Corinthian.
Although Brown made two appearances at the start of the following season, he lost his place at inside left to Finlay Speedie
Finlay Speedie
Finlay Ballantyne Speedie was a Scottish footballer who played for Rangers and Newcastle United in the 1900s. He was a versatile forward who was most at home at inside left....
and in October 1907 he moved to Bradford Park Avenue
Bradford Park Avenue A.F.C.
Bradford Association Football Club, previously also known as Bradford and since its reformation in the 1970s now referred to as Bradford Park Avenue, is a football club based in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England...
.
Bradford Park Avenue and Fulham
Bradford had previously been a rugby unionRugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
team and had only started playing football 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 Fulham
Fulham F.C.
Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season...
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 SouthamptonSouthampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
and had bought the Kingsland Tavern in St Mary's Street from another ex-Saint, Tom Nicol
Tom Nicol
Thomas H. "Tom" Nicol 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.-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
Bill Buckenham
William Elijah "Bill" Buckenham was an English amateur footballer who played for both Woolwich Arsenal and Southampton in 1909–10.-Football career:...
who returned to the Army. With Brown playing alongside Frank Jefferis
Frank Jefferis
Frank Jefferis was a football player.-Playing career:He initially played football for his local non-league team, Fordingbridge Turks, before being invited for a trial at The Dell by Southampton of the Southern League in March 1905...
and new signings Sid Kimpton
Sid Kimpton
Gabriel Sibley "Sid" Kimpton, also known as George Kimpton, was an English football player, who spent his entire playing career with Southampton and subsequently became a manager in Europe....
and Martin Dunne
Martin Dunne (footballer)
Martin Dunne was an English footballer who played one season as a forward in the Southern League for Southampton.-Football career:...
, 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 F.C.
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Plymouth, Devon, that plays in Football League Two.Since becoming professional in 1903, the club has won five Football League titles, five Southern League titles and one Western League title. The 2009–10 season was the...
. 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
Southampton F.C. seasons
This is a list of seasons played by Southampton Football Club in English and European football, from 1892 to the most recent completed season. The first six seasons are Southampton St. Mary's....
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 inside-left duties with Archie Small
Archie Small
Archibald Rammell "Archie" Small was an English amateur footballer who played at inside-forward for Southampton in the years prior to World War I.-Football career:...
, 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 Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth Argyle F.C.
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Plymouth, Devon, that plays in Football League Two.Since becoming professional in 1903, the club has won five Football League titles, five Southern League titles and one Western League title. The 2009–10 season was the...
), a week after the team had suffered their worst-ever defeat in a competitive match, losing 8–0 at Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace F.C.
Crystal Palace Football Club are an English Football league club based in South Norwood, London. The team plays its home matches at Selhurst Park, where they have been based since 1924. The club currently competes in the second tier of English Football, The Championship.Crystal Palace was formed in...
.
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 until the outbreak of World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. During the war, he worked in motor transport and afterwards he took over a greengrocer
Greengrocer
A greengrocer or fruiterer is a retail trader in fruit and vegetables; that is, in green groceries. Greengrocer is primarily a British and Australian term, and greengrocers' shops were once common in suburbs, towns and villages...
y shop in Padwell Road, about half a mile from The Dell.
In 1933, he contracted a virus which attacked his optic nerve
Optic nerve
The optic nerve, also called cranial nerve 2, transmits visual information from the retina to the brain. Derived from the embryonic retinal ganglion cell, a diverticulum located in the diencephalon, the optic nerve doesn't regenerate after transection.-Anatomy:The optic nerve is the second of...
causing him to lose his sight. The disease spread rapidly, and he died in February 1934 aged only 50.
Honours
Newcastle UnitedNewcastle United F.C.
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, and has played at its current home ground, St James' Park, since the merger...
- Football League champions: 1906–07
- Charity Shield winners: 1907