Full name David Eric Browne Number 48 Height 1.75 m Current team FC Groningen | Playing position 2010–2011 POMSOE FC Weight 65 kg Position Forward, Midfielder | |
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Date of birth (1995-12-27) 27 December 1995 (age 21) Place of birth Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea | ||
David Browne (born 27 December 1995 in Port Moresby) is a Papua New Guinean footballer who currently plays for FC Groningen of the Eredivisie. He is the first Papua New Guinean footballer to play professionally in Europe.
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Early career
Around the age of 10, Browne saw a video of Cristiano Ronaldo and decided he wanted to play football. He originally began playing as a goalkeeper. He began his football career in the Port Moresby suburb of Kaugere at the Living Light Academy. Between 2007 and 2010, he changed schools three times, attending Korobosea International School United from 2007 to 2008, St Josephs International School in 2009, and Port Moresby International School in 2010. Browne played for two years for local development team Port Moresby School of Excellence FC of the Port Moresby Soccer Association from 2010 to 2011. POMSOE FC was founded in 2010 and featured mostly players from the Papua New Guinea national under-17 team. He left Papua New Guinea for a football scholarship in New Zealand in 2012.
Club career
While participating in Under-17 World Cup qualification, Browne was spotted and offered a scholarship by St Peter's College in Auckland, New Zealand. While playing for the college, he also played for Central United of the Northern League at age 15. Central United accumulated a 10-1-7 record, finishing in 3rd place for the season. Following his one season with the club, he was named the Player of the Year. Browne attended St Peter's College for three years before graduating in 2012. He was St. Peter's top scorer in 2011 and voted a member of the state team. Following the 2012 season with Central United, he was then spotted by Auckland City FC of the ASB Premiership because of a partnership between the two clubs.
Auckland City
He was 16 when he signed for Auckland and immediately joined the club's first team. Between 2012 and 2015, Browne scored a total of 10 league goals in 33 league matches. He won the OFC Champions League with the club twice, in 2013 and 2014. He also participated in the 2012, 2013, and 2014 FIFA Club World Cups and earned the surprise bronze medal in 2014 after beating Mexico's Cruz Azul on penalties, in addition to multiple other league and confederation championships and awards. In 2012, he was the youngest player at the FIFA Club World Cup at age 16 and was selected by head coach Ramon Tribulietx after being with the club for only three months. At that time he was the youngest ever player from Papua New Guinea to take part in the tournament and the second youngest player ever overall. Browne turned 17 only 11 days after the 16 December final, making him older than only Víctor Mañón who was part of Mexico's C.F. Pachuca's squad in 2008. He was also the first Papua New Guinea player to take part in the competition since Hekari United qualified in 2010. Following the 2014–15 ASB Premiership season, Browne was named the player with the most potential in the league by a columnist of the The New Zealand Herald because of his exciting style of play, full range of talent, and performances which included a hat-trick against Waitakere United in the league semi-final. Following his final season with Auckland City, he was given the team's Young Player of the Year award. That season he was also the team's joint top scorer, tied with Joao Moreira.
PEC Zwolle
In 2015, Browne was among players selected from 30 countries to trial in the Nike Most Wanted Global Showcase. After impressing in the showcase, he had the option to join the Nike Football Academy or sign for a professional team in the Netherlands. He was one of 40-60 players from around the world who were offered the opportunity to join the academy based at the St George's Park National Football Centre. However, he chose the latter option and was signed to Jong PEC Zwolle, the reserve side of PEC Zwolle of the Eredivisie. He scored on his debut for the Zwolle U21 side, a 3–1 victory over Helmond Sport in the opening match of the season on 10 August 2015. He also scored in a friendly against Jong FC Twente the following month. Browne played in the reserve side's final match of the season, a 0–4 defeat to Jong SC Cambuur which saw Zwolle finish at the bottom of its group. He first appeared on the first team's match day roster on 27 February 2016 as an unused substitute in a league match against SC Cambuur. He was a member of both the reserve and first teams. He appeared in 7 reserve league matches, scoring one goal but never made a first team appearance over the course of the season.
FC Groningen
In June 2016 it was announced that Browne had been signed by FC Groningen, also of the Eredivisie, in part to be a replacement for the injured attacker Kasper Oldenburger of the reserve team. When training for the 2016/17 season commenced, Browne practiced with FC Groningen U23, formerly known as Jong FC Groningen prior to that season, which competed in the Derde Divisie. Browne and the U23 side were undefeated in their first five exhibitions matches of the season. Browne was a 70th-minute substitute in the team's opening match of the season, a 1–2 defeat to SVV Scheveningen. He had a good chance to level the score after coming on but the free kick was cleared on the goal line. He scored his first goal for the club on 1 October 2016, scoring the opening goal in the 3rd minute of an eventual 3–3 draw with Rijnsburgse Boys. On 4 February 2017, Browne scored his first brace for the club in a league match against SteDoCo. The 4–0 victory was the largest margin of victory for the club at that point of the season.
It was announced on 24 February 2017 that Browne was named to the senior squad for the team's next league fixture, a home fixture against FC Utrecht on 25 February. His success with the under-23 team was cited as a reason for the call up. Browne was left on the bench as an unused substitute in the match, an eventual 2–3 defeat.
International career
In 2005, Browne represented Papua New Guinea at an under-12 tournament in Fiji. He was teammates on that team with youth squad captain and future senior international Alwin Komolong. He was part of Papua New Guinea's squad for the 2011 OFC U-17 Championship. He appeared in four matches and scored one goal during the tournament. His goal came in 2–1 victory over American Samoa. He hit the crossbar on another shot during the match. Despite moving to New Zealand and attending school and playing football there for several years, he was ineligible for a call-up from New Zealand Football.
In November 2015, it was announced that Browne was invited as part of Papua New Guinea's initial 29-man squad for the 2016 OFC Nations Cup, hosted by Papua New Guinea, which also served as qualification for the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup and the second round of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification. However, he was not part of the final roster.
In January 2017 it was announced that Browne was part of Papua New Guinea's initial 23-man squad for two 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Tahiti in March.
Under-17
Score and result list Papua New Guinea's goal tally first.
Personal
Browne is the son of Bob Browne, an Englishman who moved to Papua New Guinea in 1971 and became the country's most renowned cartoonist by creating Mista Grasruts. Bob Browne died in 2011. His mother, Segana, is a Papua New Guinean from Central Province. Browne has also worked as a building labourer. He also hold a British passport.