Full name John Brown 1979–1984 Hamilton Academical Years Team | Playing position Name John Brown | |
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Date of birth (1962-01-26) 26 January 1962 (age 53) | ||
Place of birth Stirling, Scotland | ||
John Brown (born 26 January 1962) is a Scottish professional football player and manager. Brown played for Hamilton Academical, Dundee and Rangers as a defender or defensive midfielder.
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Brown was a first-team regular for Rangers as they won nine consecutive Scottish League championships between 1988 and 1997. After retiring as a player, Brown became a coach and has managed Clyde and Dundee. He is known by his nickname "Bomber".
Playing career
Brown started his career at Hamilton before moving on to Dundee. He was signed by Rangers in January 1988 and went on to be eventually included in 278 games for the club. Along the way, as a squad player he managed to collect eight League titles, three Scottish Cups and three League Cups, scoring 18 goals in the process. In the 1992–93 season Brown played in 59 matches as his club won the domestic treble and came close to reaching the final of the Champions League.
There was some controversy, with Brown once calling the fans of rival Aberdeen "morons" in response to their behaviour and song choices during matches against Rangers. Brown's final competitive match was the 1996 Scottish Cup Final which Rangers won. He retired from playing in May 1997 after Rangers won their ninth consecutive title.
Despite his prolonged success at club level, he was never selected for Scotland.
Managerial career
Brown took over as coach of Rangers' Under-18s in 1997 before moving on to coach the reserve team in 2003, replacing former teammate John McGregor. He left the Rangers coaching setup on 27 June 2006, weeks after the appointment of new manager Paul Le Guen.
Brown was linked with the vacant Clyde job in June 2007, but lost out after the job was given to former Scotland captain Colin Hendry. On 21 November 2007, Brown was announced as the new manager of Dumbarton; the following day, however, it emerged that Brown had turned down the post due to personal reasons.
Brown was appointed Clyde manager on 26 January 2008, succeeding Colin Hendry. Brown's first game in charge came in a disappointing 3–1 defeat by Stirling Albion on 2 February 2008. He just about achieved his aim of keeping Clyde in the Scottish First Division via the playoffs and was given a contract until 2011 in December 2008. After leading the club to only three wins in 15 games at the start of the 2009–10 season, Brown was sacked on 21 November 2009.
Brown made an unsuccessful attempt to take control of Rangers from the Sevco consortium, led by Charles Green, in July 2012.
Brown was appointed manager of Dundee on an interim basis in February 2013, with the club struggling to remain in the top division; the board described him as 'perfect' for the job. His appointment was not well received by the fans, despite being fan favorite during his playing days for the club. In his first game in charge, a 2–2 draw against St Johnstone, Brown praised his players, describing them as having great spirit. He experienced his first Dundee derby as manager in the quarter-final of the Scottish Cup, which Dundee lost 2–1. After the match Brown was critical with the officials, claiming they were not doing their jobs. Brown managed to get his first win in a 2–1 victory against St Mirren and speaking to BBC Scotland's Jim Spence afterwards stated his belief that the club might have a chance of survival. Brown was awarded Scottish Premier League Manager of the Month in April 2013 after securing four victories during the month, but despite this upturn in results, Dundee were relegated to the new Scottish Championship.
On 3 February 2014 it was announced that Brown had left his role as manager of Dundee after agreeing a severance package with the club. Dundee was in a tie for first place in the 2013–14 Scottish Championship, behind Falkirk on goal difference, but the club acted to remove Brown after a run of three games without a win.