John Alf Brown
| Full name | John Alfred Brown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Place of birth | Cardiff, Wales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of death | Cardiff, Wales | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation(s) | coal trimmer | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Position(s) | Forward | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Amateur team(s) | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Points) |
| ?-1901 1901-1910 1906 |
St. Peters RFC Cardiff RFC Glamorgan County RFC |
() | |
| National team(s) | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Points) |
| 1907-1909 | Wales | 7 | (3) |
John "Jack" Alf Brown, colloquially known as John Alf or "Big John", (October 1881 – 3 August 1936) was a Welsh international rugby union forward player who played club rugby for Cardiff and county rugby for Glamorgan. Brown was capped seven times for Wales and although he missed facing the first touring South African team in 1906 with Wales, he faced the tourist with both Cardiff and Glamorgan.
Brown was reputed to be an extremely tough and physical forward player, which was reflected in his manual occupation as a coal trimmer at Cardiff Docks. He died in 1936 from Pneumoconiosis.
Brown first came to note as a rugby player while representing Cardiff based team St. Peters RFC. Brown was made vice-captain of St. Peters, but in 1901 moved to first class team Cardiff. Brown first played for the Cardiff Senior XV during the 1901/02 season, under the captaincy of Bert Winfield. In late 1905, Brown was part of the Cardiff team to face the Original All Blacks, his first encounter with international opposition. In a very close match, Cardiff lost 10-8. The next season saw the South Africa tour Britain, and Brown faced them twice, at county and then club level. He first faced South Africa when he was selected to represent Welsh county team Glamorgan. Brown was a surprise choice and joined the team along with Cardiff team mates George Northmore, Bert Winfield, Rhys Gabe and Billy O'Neill. In a very quick paced game, the South Africans won 6-3, and then went on to beat Wales in a shock win a month later. On 1 January 1907 the South Africans met Cardiff in the last game of the tour, having only lost one match, against Scotland, in a 28-game campaign. The game was one of the highlights of the tour, with many of the Cardiff players having been humiliated by the South Africans in the Wales defeat, playing for pride. In the forwards, Brown, Casey and O'Neill worked tirelessly for Cardiff, against a South African team lacking unison; and it was from Brown's performance on this game that he would later win his Welsh cap. The final score was 17-0 to Cardiff, South Africa's only loss to a club side throughout the tour.
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