Irvin Brown

Irvin Brown (20 September 1935 – 20 November 2005) was an English professional footballer who played as a centre half in the Football League for Brighton & Hove Albion and Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic. He also played non-league football for Poole Town and Hamworthy United.

Not to be confused with Irving Brown.

Irvin Brown
Personal information
Full name Irvin Brown[1]
Date of birth (1935-09-20)20 September 1935[1]
Place of birth Lewes,[1] England
Date of death 20 November 2005(2005-11-20) (aged 70)[1]
Place of death Poole,[1] England
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[2]
Position(s) Centre half
Youth career
Lewes St Mary's
1951–1952 Brighton & Hove Albion
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1952–1958 Brighton & Hove Albion 3 (0)
1958–1962 Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic 65 (2)
1962–19?? Poole Town
Hamworthy United
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Life and career

Brown was born in 1935 in Lewes, Sussex,[1] where he attended the local secondary modern school.[3] He played football for Lewes St Mary's and represented East Sussex at schoolboy level;[2] it was while playing schools football that he was spotted by Brighton & Hove Albion manager Don Welsh. After a trial, he was taken onto the club's ground staff in 1951 and signed professional forms on his 17th birthday in September 1952.[3] National Service obligations[4] and inability to dislodge captain Ken Whitfield from the centre-half position meant Brown did not make his senior debut until 9 November 1957, in a Third Division South match against Northampton Town.[2] Albion won 4–2, and "the critics accorded him a fair share of the credit for ... their first victory at Northampton for 11 years",[5] but he returned to the reserves for the next match.[3] Whitfield was reported to have asked for a transfer the following month,[6] but this came to nothing, and Brown appeared just twice more for Albion's first team before moving on after seven years with the club.[3]

On 17 September 1958, Don Welsh signed Brown for a second time, for Third Division club Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic.[3] The following day, Brighton signed his brother Alan, also a centre half.[7] Brown impressed immediately for Bournemouth: on his debut, the People described him as "a shining light [who] with the coolness of a veteran ... not only kept Higham in check but maintained complete command of the middle".[8] He went on to play 65 Third Division matches for Bournemouth before joining Poole Town of the Southern League in 1962.[2]

He remained at Poole for several years, and was for a long time associated with nearby Hamworthy United, as player, manager and physiotherapist. After his death, the Hamworthy club set up a trust fund to raise money to build a stand in his memory, and since then have held an annual Irvin Brown Day to raise funds for the club.[9]

Brown was one of six brothers who all played football; two younger brothers, Alan and Stan, played at Football League level.[2] He married Sheila Walter in 1956.[10] By the time he signed for Bournemouth, the couple had a daughter.[3] After giving up full-time football, he remained in the Poole, Dorset, area where he worked as a carpenter[2] and where he died in 2005 at the age of 70.[1]

References
  1. "Irvin Brown". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  2. Carder, Tim; Harris, Roger (1997). Albion A–Z: A Who's Who of Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. Hove: Goldstone Books. pp. 37–39. ISBN 978-0-9521337-1-1.
  3. "Irvin Brown, of Lewes, leaves Albion for Bournemouth". Sussex Express & County Herald. 19 September 1958. p. 1. He is the stopper type of centre-half, and distributes the ball intelligently with constructive passes
  4. "Captain for a day". Sussex Express & County Herald. 5 February 1954. p. 5. Professional footballer Irvin Brown, of Lewes, who is on Brighton & Hove Albion's books as a centre-half, played his last game with that club for some time, for yesterday (Thursday) he reported for National Service. As a parting gesture. Brown was made captain for Saturday's match. But he assures me it was no parting gesture of his that caused him to put the ball through his own goal!
  5. "Irvin is tallest centre-half in English League". Sussex Express & County Herald. 15 November 1957. p. 1.
  6. "Albion find form". Sussex Express & County Herald. 27 December 1957. p. 8.
  7. "Oh, brother!". Daily Mirror. London. 19 September 1958. p. 23.
  8. "Bournemouth giant is great". The People. London. 21 September 1958. p. 18.
  9. Nicholson, Roger (10 January 2006). "Irvin Brown Memorial". Dorset Football Forum. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
    "Hamworthy United have it covered thanks to football funding success" (Press release). The Football Foundation. 9 April 2009. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
    "Non-league: Hamworthy United set for Irvin Brown fundraiser". Bournemouth Echo. 29 April 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  10. "The winning team. Mr. I. Brown and Miss S.A. Walter". Sussex Express & County Herald. 20 July 1956. p. 1.
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