Eddy Brown
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Edwin Brown | ||
| Date of birth | 28 February 1926 | ||
| Place of birth | Preston, Lancashire, England | ||
| Date of death | 12 July 2012 (aged 86) | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||
| Playing position | Centre forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1948–1950 | Preston North End | 36 | (6) |
| 1950–1952 | Southampton | 57 | (32) |
| 1952–1954 | Coventry City | 85 | (50) |
| 1954–1959 | Birmingham City | 158 | (74) |
| 1959–1961 | Leyton Orient | 63 | (28) |
| 1961–1964 | Scarborough | 89 | (47) |
| Total | 488 | (232) | |
| Teams managed | |||
| 1961–1964 | Scarborough | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Edwin "Eddy" Brown (28 February 1926 – 12 July 2012) was an English footballer who played as a centre forward. He played professionally for a number of clubs, but the peak of his career was spent with Birmingham City during their most successful period in the 1950s. Over a professional career of nearly 400 appearances in the Football League, he scored at a rate of very nearly one goal every two games. He was a pioneer of the goal celebration.
Brown was born in Jutland Street, Preston, Lancashire and attended St Ignatius primary school in the town. He was a religious boy, and at the age of twelve began to attend the De La Salle Catholic college on Guernsey with a view to taking Holy Orders. He studied at the college for eight years, during which time the boys were evacuated to the mainland when the Germans invaded, a disruption which did not prevent Brown achieving four A levels (in English, French, Latin and History) and laying the foundations for his lifelong love of Shakespeare.
However, after the war he returned to Preston and in August 1948 was persuaded to defer his calling to make use of his gift for football instead. He presented himself at Deepdale and said "I am a centre forward."Preston took him at his word and he scored a hat-trick on his debut for the "A" team which secured him a professional contract.
He joined Preston at a time when Bill Shankly was nearing the end of his Preston playing career; Brown believes his success in the game owed much to the lessons learned from Shankly in that first year:
He said football was all about the soul, enjoying your life, but always keep striving for that bit extra. He could be crude, rude and outspoken, but it would be football for breakfast, dinner and tea. He was an astonishing and genuine man and football was his obsession. Bill was a preacher, but he always preached with a smile on his face. If I hadn't started at Preston and not met Bill Shankly, who was so kind to me, I don't think I'd have made a living out of football.
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