His first job in management was back at Burnley in 1954 and it was there with the support of chairman Bob Lord, that he set up the youth policy which was to be so fruitful long after he had moved on. He left Burnley in 1957 and had a very brief spell with Wednesday as coach. During the 1957 close season he was appointed manager of Sunderland in his native north-east. In his first season in charge, they were relegated for the first time in their history. Despite that set-back, he stayed with the club and they eventually regained their First Division place in 1964.
He chose not to stay and enjoy the success and in the 1964 close season he was appointed manager of Wednesday. After the bribes scandal, the board had looked for a tough disciplinarian to help restore some pride to the club and Brown fitted the bill. Despite that, he was well respected by the players and in 1966 he took the club to their first Cup Final in over 30 years. In the semi-finals they had started out as rank outsiders against Chelsea but had surprised everyone outside Sheffield with a 2-0 victory. The media had been hoping for a Manchester United v Chelsea final, but it was Everton who were to be Wednesday’ s opponents.
Everton had reached the final without conceding a goal, whilst Wednesday had won every tie away from home at the first attempt. Within five minutes the Owls were a goal up through McCalliog and for nearly an hour outplayed Everton, with some of their most stylish football of the season. When Ford put Wednesday 2-0 up after 57 minutes, it seemed the cup was destined for Sheffield but in a remarkable recovery, Everton, managed by Catterick, came back to win 3-2. Apart from the Wednesday supporters, most football fans regarded it as one of the best ever Wembley Finals.
Brown stayed with the club until February 1968, when he returned to Sunderland for a second time as manager. Just as in his first spell with the club, Sunderland were again relegated, this time in 1970-71, the same season that the Owls went down. In the 1971-72 season Sunderland made a strong but unsuccessful challenge for promotion, the following season they started badly and Brown was sacked.
Back to the Wednesday ArchiveIf you have any comments, or are aware of any errors / omissions then please email me :- Stuart Jackson