James Brown (footballer, born 1907)

James Brown (1907 – unknown) was a Scottish footballer who played at right half-back. Born in Leith, Edinburgh, he spent most of his football career playing in England, for Burnley, Manchester United and Bradford Park Avenue.

James Brown
Personal information
Full name James Brown
Date of birth 24 June 1906
Place of birth Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland
Position(s) Right half
Youth career
Belhavenock
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Maryhill
Wishaw Juniors
1926–1927 East Fife 9 (0)
1927–1935 Burnley 228 (5)
1935–1939 Manchester United 102 (1)
1939–1940 Bradford Park Avenue 14 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Born in Leith, Brown was orphaned at the age of 7, along with his five brothers.[1] He entered the coal-mining industry while still at school, but after becoming a Scottish schoolboy international, he decided to pursue a career in football.[1] After playing for Belhavenock, Maryhill and Wishaw Juniors in the Scottish Junior League,[2] he joined Scottish Second Division club East Fife for the 1926–27 season.[3] After a successful season in which his team reached the final of the Scottish Cup, he earned a move to England, where he was signed by First Division side Burnley.[1]

Burnley narrowly avoided relegation to the Second Division in Brown's first two seasons with the club, but they were unable to do so again in 1929–30. Two years later, Brown was named as the club's captain. However, in June 1935, he was signed by Manchester United for a fee of £1,000.[4] In his eight years with Burnley, Brown scored five goals in 228 league appearances. He made his debut for Manchester United in a 3–1 defeat away to Plymouth Argyle on 31 August 1935. He was the club's starting right-half and captain for most of the season,[5] missing just two matches as Manchester United finished top of the Second Division to earn promotion to the top flight.[6]

He continued as the club's first-choice right-half for the next two seasons as they were relegated back to the Second Division and immediately promoted again. Having already lost the captaincy to George Roughton in 1937,[7] Brown lost his place in the team to George Gladwin at the start of the 1938–39 season, before Jack Warner took over in November 1938, having been signed the previous summer.[4] This meant that Brown made just three appearances for Manchester United in 1938–39 and he was allowed to leave for Bradford Park Avenue in February 1939. He made 13 appearances for Bradford Park Avenue before the end of the season and another in 1939–40 before league football was suspended due to the Second World War, during which he retired from football.[4]

References
General
  • Dykes, Garth (1994). The United Alphabet: A Complete Who's Who of Manchester United F.C. Leicester: ACL & Polar Publishing (UK). ISBN 0-9514862-6-8.
  • Joyce, Michael (2004). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: Tony Brown. ISBN 1899468676.
  • McCartney, Iain (2013). The Official Manchester United Players' A-Z. London: Simon & Schuster UK. ISBN 978-1-47112-846-2.
Specific
  1. Dykes (1994), p. 53.
  2. Joyce (2004), p. 39.
  3. John Litster (October 2012). "A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players". Scottish Football Historian magazine. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. Dykes (1994), p. 54.
  5. McCartney (2013), p. 64.
  6. "1935/36". StretfordEnd.co.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  7. "Newton Heath and Manchester United Captains". Manchester United Museum Information Sheets. Manchester United. June 2009.
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