Phil Brown (footballer, born 1959)

Playing career

Born in South Shields, County Durham and educated in the North East, Brown started his career playing Sunday league football for South Shields side Red Duster in the South Shields Business Houses League, in the same team as Ray Dunbar and Bobby Davison, who went on to play for Derby County and Leeds United.

As a professional, Brown played at full back for many years with Hartlepool United, followed by a spell at Halifax Town (with fellow north-easterner Billy Ayre at both clubs and under him at the latter), In 1988, he moved to Bolton Wanderers, winning the Associate Members Cup in 1989.

Brown joined Blackpool in 1994, playing under Sam Allardyce until 1996 while also being his assistant manager.

Coaching

Brown started taking his coaching badges while playing for Bolton, encouraged by Bruce Rioch. His first coaching role was as assistant to Sam Allardyce at Blackpool. He returned to Bolton Wanderers after his playing career ended and served as assistant manager to Colin Todd. Following Todd's departure in 1999, he took charge of the team as caretaker manager, winning four games out of five, until the appointment of Sam Allardyce. He then served as Allardyce's assistant for six years, before deciding to forge his own career as a manager.

Derby County

Brown's first full-time senior management position was at Derby County, where he succeeded George Burley in June 2005. His time at Derby County proved to be unsuccessful and he was sacked just seven months into his tenure in January 2006, after a 6–1 league defeat against Coventry City, followed by a 3–1 defeat to Colchester in the FA Cup fourth round. Derby were in 19th place when Brown departed.

Hull City

Brown was appointed as first-team coach at Hull City on 27 October 2006 under Phil Parkinson, and took over as joint caretaker manager alongside Colin Murphy on 4 December 2006 after Parkinson's sacking, with Hull in 22nd place in the Football League Championship. After taking Hull out of the relegation zone with three wins and a draw in the six matches as caretaker manager, he was appointed as the permanent manager of the club on 4 January 2007.

Championship and promotion

Brown went on to lead The Tigers to Championship safety and the following season Hull City won promotion to the top level of English football for the first time in the club's 104-year history, by beating Bristol City at Wembley in the Championship play-off final on 24 May 2008. Brown described this as "the best day of my life, without a shadow of a doubt".

Premier League

Brown was rewarded with a new three-year contract, which he signed on the weekend of Hull City's first ever top-flight match, a 2–1 victory over Fulham on 16 August 2008. On 28 September Brown managed Hull to a 2–1 victory at Arsenal. It was only Arsenal's second-ever defeat at the Emirates Stadium and was described by the Hull press as the greatest victory in the club's history. After a 1–0 victory at bottom of the table Tottenham Hotspur the following weekend, and a 3–0 away victory at the also newly promoted West Bromwich Albion, he was awarded the Manager-of-the-Month award for Hull's performances in September.

The first nine games Hull spent as a top division club resulted in six wins as they occupied third place in the Premier League and were only being kept off the top by Liverpool and Arsenal having superior goal difference.

The remainder of the season was not so easy for Brown, as the team struggled to pick up the remaining points necessary to avoid relegation, and he was involved in several controversial incidents. In November 2008 he was fined £1,000 and warned about his future conduct by the FA after he admitted a charge of improper conduct. The charge related to a game against Wigan in August which Hull lost 5–0. On 26 December 2008, following a poor first half performance by Hull in a league match against Manchester City, Brown conducted his half-time team-talk on the pitch, in full view of the crowd and at the end of the pitch where the Hull supporters had been sitting. Brown was again charged with misconduct for his behaviour in an FA Cup tie against Newcastle United in January. During the match Brown and Newcastle manager Joe Kinnear were both sent to the stands after a confrontation in which Brown verbally abused Newcastle's assistant manager Chris Hughton. Brown admitted the charge and was subsequently fined £2,500 and warned as to his future conduct by the Football Association.

On 17 March 2009, Brown claimed that he saw Arsenal midfielder and captain Cesc Fàbregas spit at the feet of his assistant manager Brian Horton following Hull's 2–1 FA Cup defeat and elimination at the Emirates Stadium. Fabregas was cleared of the accusation on 22 May 2009. After the game Brown also falsely claimed that Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger had refused to shake his hand at one of their two previous meetings that season. Brown faced his third improper conduct charge of the season in relation to comments he made about referee Mike Riley after the Arsenal match. He denied the offence but was found guilty in a June hearing and once again fined £2,500 and warned about his future conduct.

On 24 May 2009, despite suffering a 1–0 loss to a second-string Manchester United side, Brown led Hull City to survival in the Premier League due to Newcastle United losing to Aston Villa. Hull finished in 17th place, one point above Newcastle, who also lost. Brown stated that this was the greatest achievement in his managerial career and the club's history. At the end of the game, Brown went onto the pitch with a microphone and started singing (a modified version of) "Sloop John B" to the crowd.

In the summer of 2009, Brown looked to strengthen his side. He attempted to sign former England international striker Michael Owen and former Tiger Fraizer Campbell, but was unsuccessful. Brown did manage to sign Seyi Olofinjana, Jozy Altidore (on loan from Villarreal), Kamel Ghilas, Stephen Hunt, Paul McShane, and he also signed Ibrahima Sonko on transfer deadline day on loan from Stoke City – after the departure of Michael Turner to Sunderland. Steven Mouyokolo also joined after he was initially purchased on 30 January 2009. Free agent Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink signed for the Tigers on 3 September 2009.

Brown's position as Hull manager was thought to be under threat in November 2009 following a poor start to the season, however a run of eight points from four games dampened such speculation. The team's disciplinary problems also continued, with a £40,000 fine levied following a fracas in a 3–0 defeat at Arsenal and Hull also occupying last place in the Fair Play League. On 15 March 2010 Brown was put on gardening leave at Hull after a run of four defeats left the team in the relegation zone. Hull achieved one win in the last fifteen games under Brown, and a total of five in the 2009–10 league season. His final match was a home defeat to Arsenal. His contract as manager was confirmed ended on 7 June 2010, by which time the Tigers had been relegated under new manager Iain Dowie.

Preston North End

On 6 January 2011, it was announced that Brown would become the new manager of Preston North End, replacing the sacked Darren Ferguson. In his first season at Preston, he was unable to save the club from relegation. He stated that "I nearly broke down in front of the supporters. I hold myself responsible for relegation, end of story" however "Next season we will hit the ground running – one thing is for sure, we'll be able to run".

Brown oversaw a loss in the first game of the 2011–12 season, a 4–2 loss to Colchester, but after this the club went on a winning streak, with strikers Iain Hume, Neil Mellor and Jamie Proctor in top form. However, all 3 strikers got injured, and the club fell from 2nd in the league to 10th. This led to a club announcement on 14 December 2011, informing the fans that Brown and assistant Brian Horton had left the club with immediate effect, after a run of bad results.

Southend United

On 25 March 2013 it was announced that Brown would succeed Paul Sturrock as manager of Southend United, 24 hours after Sturrock's dismissal. Having reached the 2013 Football League Trophy Final under Sturrock, Southend lost 2-0 at Wembley on 7 April 2013 under Brown.

In the next two seasons, Brown led Southend United to consecutive play-off competitions, eventually seeing the club promoted to League One in May 2015.

Managerial statistics

Player

Bolton Wanderers

Manager

Hull City

Southend United

Individual

Personal life

Brown is married to Karen, his third wife, and they have two children, Jamie (born 1985) and Sophie (born 2001).

In September 2009, Brown claimed to have saved a suicidal woman from jumping off the Humber Bridge, however The Humber Bridge Board, who operate the bridge, were unaware of the incident.

Brown is a trained electrician, and put his trade to use by carrying out electrical work at Southend's training ground.