Jason Brown (footballer)

Jason Brown

Brown coaching Arsenal Ladies in 2015
Personal information
Full name	Jason Roy Brown[1]
Date of birth	(1982-05-18) 18 May 1982[1]
Place of birth	Southwark, England
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1]
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team	Gillingham (goalkeeping coach)
Youth career
?–1997	Fisher Athletic
1997–1998	Sydenham
1998–2001	Charlton Athletic
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2001–2006	Gillingham	126	(0)
2006–2011	Blackburn Rovers	9	(0)
2010	→ Leeds United (loan)	4	(0)
2010	→ Leyton Orient (loan)	3	(0)
2011	→ Cardiff City (loan)	0	(0)
2011–2013	Aberdeen	22	(0)
2013	Ipswich Town	0	(0)
2013–2014	Cambridge United	0	(0)
2014	Sutton United	21	(0)
2014–2015	Dartford	30	(0)
2015	Sutton United	0	(0)
Total		215	(0)
National team‡
2002–2004	Wales U21	7	(0)
2006–2012	Wales	3	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:07, 4 March 2015 (UTC). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11:38, 28 November 2013 (UTC)

Jason Roy Brown (born 18 May 1982) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He began his career at Gillingham, making over 100 appearances for the club, before joining Premier League side Blackburn Rovers in 2006. During his career, he was capped 3 times for Wales after making his debut in 2006.

Early life

Born in Bermondsey in Southwark, England, Brown attended Riverside Primary School and Deptford Green School as a youngster.^[2]

Club career

Charlton Athleic

Brown began his career playing youth football as a defender for Fisher Athletic before converting to a goalkeeper at the age of 14. He later played one season for Sydenham, winning a local league and cup double in a side that conceded just four goals during their campaign, alongside Anwar Uddin and Terrell Forbes. His performances attracted the attention of several London based clubs, including Fulham and Queens Park Rangers, before signing for Charlton Athletic after two of his friends also joined the club. Brown struggled during his first season as an apprentice at The Valley, suffering home sickness and later rupturing his hamstring which kept him out for several months but was able to return to action the following year after working alongside first team goalkeeper Mike Salmon.^[2]

His second year at the club was more successful, becoming a regular in the youth sides at the club and training one-on-one with new signing Dean Kiely. Charlton coach Gary Stevens later told Brown "a year ago you were a waste of space, but you’ve come on and proved a lot of people wrong”.^[2] At the end of his apprenticeship, Brown was offered a one-year professional contract with Addicks for the 2000–01 season.^[2] However, he struggled to make an impact on the squad with four other senior goalkeepers in the team and discussed his future with manager Alan Curbishley who stated that he did not believe that Brown would develop if he remained at the club and offered to help him find a new club.^[2] Concerned about his future in professional football, Brown filled in an application form for a job cleaning bus shelters but, following a recommendation to Sheffield United assistant manager Kevin Blackwell by Dean Kiely, Brown was offered a trial at Bramall Lane, playing in a friendly match against Wolverhampton Wanderers. However, he was not offered a contract as Warnock was looking for a more experienced back-up to first choice goalkeeper Simon Tracey.^[3]

Gillingham

After being rejected by Sheffield United, Brown was invited to a trial by Gillingham chief scout, Bernie Dillon. He played in seven youth fixtures and one reserve match for the club during the trial and was eventually handed a two and a half year contract at the Priestfield Stadium.^[3] After appearing on the bench on several occasions, Brown was handed his senior debut on 5 March 2002, playing the full 90 minutes of a 2–1 victory over Grimsby Town.^[4] His performance in the following match, a 0–0 draw with Sheffield Wednesday, saw him named in the Division One team of the week.^[3] Brown was voted the fans' player of the year for his performances during the 2005–06 season. The following month, Brown signed for Premier League side Blackburn Rovers on a four-year deal.^[5]

On 11 September 2010, Brown signed for Leeds United on an initial one-month loan after an injury to Kasper Schmeichel,^[6] and made his Leeds debut as a substitute against Ipswich Town on 2 October after Shane Higgs was injured,^[7] after which Brown's loan was extended by a further month, until 13 November. On 5 October, Brown revealed an interest in joining Leeds on a permanent basis.^[8][9] Brown made his first start for Leeds against Middlesbrough.^[10] His loan came to an end on 15 November.^[11]

On 19 November 2010, Brown signed for Leyton Orient on a one-month loan.^[12] On 23 November 2010 he saved an Aaron McLean penalty to help his side secure a 2-2 draw at Peterborough United.^[13] On 3 March 2011, he joined Championship side Cardiff City on an emergency loan deal, after injuries to Cardiff's goalkeepers David Marshall and Tom Heaton.^[14] The following day, Stephen Bywater also joined on loan, and kept Brown out of the side, but despite not making an appearance during his initial spell, Cardiff decided to extend his loan until the end of the season.^[15]

On 20 July 2011, Brown joined Scottish Premier League club Aberdeen on a free transfer .^[16][17]

Mid-way through the season first-choice goalkeeper David Gonzalez began to fall out of favour with manager Craig Brown, and with Jamie Langfield still recovering from a seizure suffered in the previous season, Brown was handed the starting position on a regular basis. He went on to make a further 24 appearances in the 2011–12 season. In a Scottish Cup quarter-final away to Motherwell, he saved a Michael Higdon penalty as the Dons won 2–1. On 29 January 2013, Brown was released by Aberdeen.^[18]

Brown joined Ipswich Town on a short-term deal on 28 March 2013.^[19] After this, and a short spell with Cambridge United, he next played for Sutton United.^[20] However, he left the club following their playoff semi-final exit at the hands of Dover Athletic.

On 23 June 2014, Brown signed for Conference Premier side Dartford.^[21] Brown left Dartford on 28 April 2015 following the end of the 2014–15 season and re-signed for Sutton United. Brown retired from football at the age of 33 in the summer of 2015.

International career

Born in England, Brown qualified to play for Wales due to a Welsh-born grandmother.^[3] Having represented the under-21 side, he was named in the Wales team for a friendly against a Basque XI on 20 May, although he ended up pulling out of the match due to the birth of his first child.

Brown made his senior Welsh debut in a friendly against Trinidad and Tobago on 27 May 2006, in a 2–1 victory for Wales.^[22] He gained his second cap later on in the year, when Wales took on European minnows Liechtenstein. He kept his first clean sheet, in a 4–0 victory. He suffered his first defeat in a Welsh shirt in May 2012, in Chris Coleman's first game in charge as Wales manager. The game ended in a 2–0 defeat against Mexico with goals from Aldo de Nigris either side of half-time.^[23]

Coaching career

Brown retired from playing at the end of the 2014–15 season to take up the goalkeeping coach position at former club Gillingham in the summer of 2015.^[24] However, he left the club soon after to take up a goalkeeper coach role at Arsenal Ladies.^[25]

Personal life

In April 2003, Brown married his girlfriend Amera.^[3] He has two children.^[26]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 20 October 2015.

International

As of match played 20 October 2015.^[41]

References

External links

• Jason Brown career statistics at Soccerbase
  
• Jason Brown on Twitter
  
• Blackburn Rovers profile