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Jack Brown (footballer)
Encyclopedia
John Henry "Jack" Brown was an English football goalkeeper
who played almost all his professional career with Sheffield Wednesday
before moving to play briefly for Hartlepool United
. Brown’s career lasted from 1923 to 1937 during which time he made 466 League appearances (508 including FA Cup). He will be remembered for being Sheffield Wednesday’s goalkeeper during a golden period between 1925 and 1935 in which they won two Division One
championships, the FA Cup
and a Division Two
championship. He also played six times for the England national football team
.
, Derbyshire. On leaving school he worked as a coal miner
at Manton
colliery. As a junior he played for local junior clubs Worksop Wesley and Netherton, initially he was a centre forward
before switching because his side were short of a goalkeeper. In 1919 he signed for non-league
club Worksop Town and played in a team that were Midland League
champions in the 1921-22 season and reached the third round of the FA Cup in that season and the following one. The third round tie in 1922-23 was against Tottenham Hotspur away at White Hart Lane
, Brown had a superb game as Worksop held Tottenham to a 0-0 draw. Worksop’s directors requested that the replay be held at Tottenham’s ground again for financial reasons. Unfortunately Tottenham won the replay 9-0 but Jack Brown had done enough to grab the attention of League
clubs and he promptly signed for Sheffield Wednesday in February 1923 for a fee of £360.
who was by then 36 years old and reaching the end of his career. Brown made his debut for the club on 21 April 1923 in an away match at Coventry City
, however that was his only match that season. Brown was almost released by the club at the start of the 1923-24 season but a broken arm for Davison ensured he was kept on the books. For the following two seasons Brown and Davison shared goalkeeping duties and it was not until the 1925-26 season that Brown became first choice. Jack Brown was ever present in that season as The Owls won the Division Two championship, one of his most telling contributions was a penalty save two minutes from time in a crucial away match with promotion rivals Chelsea
in April 1926.
Brown’s good form earned a call up from the England team and he played his first international against Wales
on 12 February 1927 at Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground
. This resulted in a 3-3 draw with Brown picking up a bad injury. He recovered from the injury and was called up again on 2 April and played in a 5-2 victory against Scotland
at Hampden Park
with a reporter from the Athletic News saying, "Brown kept a splendid goal and in my opinion is in Sam Hardy
's class". In all Brown played six times for England, never once finishing on the losing side, winning five and drawing one, he played his last international on 19 October 1929.
Brown was ever present throughout Sheffield Wednesday’s Division One championship winning side in 1928-29 and only missed one match the following season when they retained the title. He remained first choice for the following seven seasons, although he did lose his place occasionally to Jack Breedon between 1930 and 1933. He played in all six FA Cup ties in 1935 as Wednesday won the cup and made some outstanding saves in the final win against West Bromwich Albion
. Brown made his final appearance for Sheffield Wednesday on 20 March 1937 as the team were relegated back to Division Two. In total he made 507 appearances for The Owls in all competitions and is second on the list of appearance makers behind Andrew Wilson, he is one of only three players who have made over 500 appearances for the club. In September 1937 he was transferred to Hartlepool United but only played one game for them, a 3-1 defeat against Gateshead F.C.
on 18 September. He then decided to retire from football at the age of 38.
, he then became the landlord of a public house
before becoming a newsagent
in the Highfield area of Sheffield. He also worked for the Sheffield Drill and Twist Company in Handsworth, South Yorkshire
. He died on 9 April 1962, aged 63.
Goalkeeper (football)
In association football, the goalkeeper occupies a position that represents the last line of defence between the opponent's offence and his own team's goal. The primary role of the goalkeeper is to defend his team's goal and prevent the opposition from scoring a goal...
who played almost all his professional career with Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday F.C.
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...
before moving to play briefly for Hartlepool United
Hartlepool United F.C.
Hartlepool United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Hartlepool that currently play in League One. The team won promotion to League One in the 2006–07 season...
. Brown’s career lasted from 1923 to 1937 during which time he made 466 League appearances (508 including FA Cup). He will be remembered for being Sheffield Wednesday’s goalkeeper during a golden period between 1925 and 1935 in which they won two Division One
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....
championships, the 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...
and a Division Two
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...
championship. He also played six times for the England national football team
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
.
Early days
Jack Brown was born in HodthorpeHodthorpe
Hodthorpe is an urban village in the parish of Whitwell, Bolsover, Derbyshire, lying close to the Nottinghamshire border and on the edge of Sherwood Forest. The village has two principal streets, Queens Road and Kings Street. It has one shop, a Post Office, a village primary school, and a Working...
, Derbyshire. On leaving school he worked as a coal miner
Coal mining
The goal of coal mining is to obtain coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content, and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from iron ore and for cement production. In the United States,...
at Manton
Manton, Nottinghamshire
Manton is a former mining village and suburb of south-east Worksop, north Nottinghamshire. Manton Colliery was one of the few pits in the county to generally support the strike in 1984-5...
colliery. As a junior he played for local junior clubs Worksop Wesley and Netherton, initially he was a centre forward
Striker
Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...
before switching because his side were short of a goalkeeper. In 1919 he signed for non-league
Non-league football
Non-League football is football in England played at a level below that of the Premier League and The Football League. The term non-League was commonly used well before 1992 when the top football clubs in England all belonged to The Football League; all clubs who were not a part of The Football...
club Worksop Town and played in a team that were Midland League
Midland Football League
There have been at least two different football competitions in England which used the name Midland Football League.One existed until 1982 before merging with the Yorkshire League to form the Northern Counties League....
champions in the 1921-22 season and reached the third round of the FA Cup in that season and the following one. The third round tie in 1922-23 was against Tottenham Hotspur away at White Hart Lane
White Hart Lane
White Hart Lane is an all-seater football stadium in Tottenham, London, England. Built in 1899, it is the home of Tottenham Hotspur and, after numerous renovations, the stadium has a capacity of 36,230....
, Brown had a superb game as Worksop held Tottenham to a 0-0 draw. Worksop’s directors requested that the replay be held at Tottenham’s ground again for financial reasons. Unfortunately Tottenham won the replay 9-0 but Jack Brown had done enough to grab the attention of 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...
clubs and he promptly signed for Sheffield Wednesday in February 1923 for a fee of £360.
Sheffield Wednesday
Brown was signed by Wednesday as an understudy to long serving international keeper Teddy DavisonTeddy Davison
Teddy Davison was an English footballer and manager who had a long and successful association with the football clubs of Sheffield, playing for Sheffield Wednesday for 18 years and later managing Sheffield United for 20 years. His fairness and diplomacy earned him the nicknames of "The George...
who was by then 36 years old and reaching the end of his career. Brown made his debut for the club on 21 April 1923 in an away match at Coventry City
Coventry City F.C.
Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...
, however that was his only match that season. Brown was almost released by the club at the start of the 1923-24 season but a broken arm for Davison ensured he was kept on the books. For the following two seasons Brown and Davison shared goalkeeping duties and it was not until the 1925-26 season that Brown became first choice. Jack Brown was ever present in that season as The Owls won the Division Two championship, one of his most telling contributions was a penalty save two minutes from time in a crucial away match with promotion rivals Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...
in April 1926.
Brown’s good form earned a call up from the England team and he played his first international against Wales
Wales national football team
The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...
on 12 February 1927 at Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground
Racecourse Ground
The Glyndŵr University Racecourse Stadium AKA The Racecourse Ground is a stadium located in Wrexham, North Wales. It is the home of Wrexham F.C. and, since 2010, the Crusaders Rugby League team who play in the engage Super League...
. This resulted in a 3-3 draw with Brown picking up a bad injury. He recovered from the injury and was called up again on 2 April and played in a 5-2 victory against Scotland
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
at Hampden Park
Hampden Park
Hampden Park is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The 52,063 capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland...
with a reporter from the Athletic News saying, "Brown kept a splendid goal and in my opinion is in Sam Hardy
Sam Hardy
Samuel Hardy was a former England-international goalkeeper.In 1902, Chesterfield manager Jack Hoskin beat Derby County to sign Hardy, doing so under a lamp post in Newbold. Hardy, something of a shrewd character, wouldn't sign the forms until Hoskin promised to pay him 18 shillings when the...
's class". In all Brown played six times for England, never once finishing on the losing side, winning five and drawing one, he played his last international on 19 October 1929.
Brown was ever present throughout Sheffield Wednesday’s Division One championship winning side in 1928-29 and only missed one match the following season when they retained the title. He remained first choice for the following seven seasons, although he did lose his place occasionally to Jack Breedon between 1930 and 1933. He played in all six FA Cup ties in 1935 as Wednesday won the cup and made some outstanding saves in the final win against 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...
. Brown made his final appearance for Sheffield Wednesday on 20 March 1937 as the team were relegated back to Division Two. In total he made 507 appearances for The Owls in all competitions and is second on the list of appearance makers behind Andrew Wilson, he is one of only three players who have made over 500 appearances for the club. In September 1937 he was transferred to Hartlepool United but only played one game for them, a 3-1 defeat against Gateshead F.C.
Gateshead F.C.
Gateshead Football Club are a professional Association football club, based in Gateshead, England. They currently play in the Conference National, the fifth level of the English football league system.Ian Bogie is the current manager....
on 18 September. He then decided to retire from football at the age of 38.
After football
After retiring Jack Brown ran an off-licence in SheffieldSheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
, he then became the landlord of a public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
before becoming a newsagent
Newsagent
A newsagent's shop , newsagency or newsstand is a business that sells newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, snacks and often items of local interest. In Britain and Australia, these businesses are termed newsagents...
in the Highfield area of Sheffield. He also worked for the Sheffield Drill and Twist Company in Handsworth, South Yorkshire
Handsworth, South Yorkshire
Handsworth is a suburb of south eastern Sheffield, in South Yorkshire, England. Handsworth has a population of approximately 15,000. It covers an overall area of approximately...
. He died on 9 April 1962, aged 63.