Tony Brown

West Bromwich Albion

Brown joined West Bromwich Albion as an apprentice professional on 13 April 1961, earning a wage of £6 a week. After two seasons playing youth football, he made his reserve team debut in the final Central League game of 1962–63, scoring in a 3–2 defeat to Manchester United reserves. He turned professional on 27 September 1963 and was immediately called up to the first team squad for the away match at Ipswich Town the following day. Eddie Readfern was unable to participate in the game due to illness, which meant that Brown was given his league debut, just a few days before his 18th birthday; his equalising goal helped Albion to a 2–1 away win. Readfern was recalled for the next game however, meaning that Brown immediately returned to the reserves, although Brown did return to the first team in mid-October, when he scored on his home debut which Albion went on to win 4–3 against Aston Villa. He was selected sporadically by Albion manager Jimmy Hagan during the remainder of 1963–64 and finished the campaign on five goals in thirteen appearances. In the latter part of the season he missed four league games when he was called up to the England Youth squad for the UEFA European Youth Tournament in the Netherlands. England won the competition but Brown was not selected for any of the games. Brown became a regular first team player during the early part of the 1964–65 campaign, appearing in Albion's first 12 league games of the season. During this period…

He later coached at Birmingham City (in the 1987–88 season he was assistant to Garry Pendrey) and West Bromwich Albion. Brown is currently a football expert summariser for BBC Radio WM on West Bromwich Albion matches. Brown was named as one of West Bromwich Albion's 16 greatest players in a poll organised as part of the club's 125th anniversary celebrations in 2004. In July 2007 he was voted into the PFA Centenary Hall of Fame, then in 2009 he was awarded a place in the Birmingham Walk of Stars, winning the West Bromwich Albion vote. Brown was given the Freedom of the Borough of Sandwell live on air on Beacon Radio and Mercia by the head of Sandwell Council in May 2010. West Bromwich Albion unveiled a statue of Tony Brown at the East Stand of the Hawthorns Stadium on 6 November 2014. Brown's boyhood hero Denis Law was present at the unveiling ceremony along with several Albion players past and present.

One of three siblings, Brown moved at an early age from his birthplace Oldham, Lancashire to Wythenshawe, Manchester. He was a keen Manchester United supporter as a boy, but his football idol was Manchester City striker Denis Law, who later signed for United just as Brown was beginning his own career as a footballer. Brown represented the South Manchester Boys team, before progressing to play for Manchester Boys and then the Lancashire County team. He suffered from asthma from three months old until the age of fourteen, but nonetheless had ambitions to play football. As he later said, "I'd always wanted to be a professional footballer; that's all I'd ever dreamed of doing." As a 15-year-old, he had agreed to sign for Manchester City when West Bromwich Albion's Manchester-based scout John Shaw persuaded Brown to take a trial at Albion. Brown responded by scoring a hat-trick in a practice match and some years later reflected:

The very first time I stepped foot inside the Hawthorns as a 15-year-old schoolboy, I knew this was the club for me. At the time I was on the verge of signing for Manchester City, who were my local club, but I felt so instantly at home with Albion that I decided to sign for them instead. It was the best decision I've ever made in my life.

In July 1969 he married Irene, with whom he had two children: Paul was born in 1977 and Adam in 1981. Brown's best man was his Albion teammate Jeff Astle.