Craig Brown (footballer, born 1940)

James Craig Brown CBE (born 1 July 1940) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager. He is currently a non executive director of Aberdeen. Brown was manager of Scotland from 1993 to 2001, the longest tenure for a Scotland manager and was undefeated in 50 of his 70 games in charge. Under Brown, Scotland qualified for both UEFA Euro 1996 in England and the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France. He has also managed Aberdeen, Motherwell, Preston North End and Clyde.
He was awarded the CBE in 1999 for services to football. He has 2 Honorary Doctorates, a BEd(Hons) and BA degree.

Playing career

Brown was born in Glasgow, but brought up in Hamilton. Educated at the former Hamilton Academy, Brown played for the school in Scottish schools competitions and in youth and junior international teams, before joining Rangers in 1958 from Coltness United.

He failed to find a regular first team place, and moved to Dundee on loan in January 1960. Brown was the first signing of Dundee manager Bob Shankly. The move was made permanent in the summer of 1960. Brown always travelled with the Dundee first team squad but as this was before substitutes were commonly used, he didn't make a competitive appearance until November 1961 when captain Bobby Cox was injured. Brown played in nine consecutive league games before becoming injured himself on 31 March in a 3-2 win against bottom placed Stirling Albion. Dundee won the Scottish league title that season and Brown's nine appearances entitled him to a medal. Brown stayed at Dundee for four and a half injury dogged years. He was never a first team regular and only made 16 appearances for the Dark Blues.

He signed for Falkirk in 1965 and went on to make 17 appearances at Brockville. He called time on his playing career in 1967 after five operations on his knee.

Managerial career

Clyde

Brown quickly showed a keen interest in being involved in the coaching side of football and he became assistant manager of Motherwell in 1974. He got his first managerial job as part-time manager of Clyde in 1977, where he spent ten seasons – winning the Second Division championship in his first season – whilst also working as a primary school head teacher then a lecturer in primary education.

Scotland

He returned to football full-time in 1986 when SFA Secretary Ernie Walker appointed him as assistant manager. Brown was also in charge of Scotland's youth teams. In 1989, he coached Scotland's Under-16s to the final of the 1989 FIFA U-16 World Championship and three years later coached the under-21s to the semi-finals of the 1992 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship.

Brown was appointed as manager of Scotland in December 1993, having been caretaker manager for the games against Italy and Malta. Brown took Scotland to Euro 96 and the 1998 World Cup, but resigned in 2001 having failed to take Scotland to Euro 2000 and the 2002 World Cup. He was replaced by German Berti Vogts. Under Brown, Scotland beat England in the last ever Euro Championship qualifier at the old Wembley in 1999 by one goal to nil, although they lost the tie 2–1 on aggregate. He took charge of Scotland for 70 international matches, more than any other Scotland manager.

Preston North End

He then had a spell in club management when he was appointed as manager of Preston North End in 2002 but left by mutual consent on 29 August 2004 after a poor start to the league campaign. He later had a brief spell as football consultant at Derby County under former protégé Billy Davies, helping them win promotion to the Premier League in 2006–07.

In October 2008, 68-year-old Brown was linked to the vacant managerial position with Scottish First Division side Dundee, but the job went to Jocky Scott.

Motherwell

On 28 December 2009 it was announced that Brown would be taking charge of Motherwell, with Archie Knox as his assistant. Brown and Knox established Motherwell in the top six of the Scottish Premier League during their time in charge.

Aberdeen

Brown, who was working without a contract at Motherwell, rebuffed an initial approach by Aberdeen on 8 December 2010. He then had a change of heart after a second approach was made, and was appointed Aberdeen manager on 10 December.

On 14 March 2013, Brown announced he was retiring from football management at the end of the 2012–13 season. His retirement date was brought forward when Derek McInnes was appointed to the position on 5 April, with Brown accepting a position on the Aberdeen board.

Personal life

His brother is commentator Jock Brown. His other brother Bob was a Minister at Queen's Cross Parish Church in Aberdeen until retirement in 2008.

Managerial statistics

As of 6 April 2013

Team	Nat	From	To	Record
G	W	D	L	Win %
Clyde		1977	1986
Scotland under 21		1986	1993
Scotland		1 November 1993	30 October 2001	7001700000000000000♠70	7001320000000000000♠32	7001180000000000000♠18	7001200000000000000♠20	7001457100000000000♠45.71
Preston North End		29 April 2002	29 August 2004	7002106000000000000♠106	7001360000000000000♠36	7001300000000000000♠30	7001400000000000000♠40	7001339600000000000♠33.96
Motherwell		29 December 2009	10 December 2010	7001450000000000000♠45	7001210000000000000♠21	7001100000000000000♠10	7001140000000000000♠14	7001466700000000000♠46.67
Aberdeen		13 December 2010	6 April 2013	7002113000000000000♠113	7001370000000000000♠37	7001330000000000000♠33	7001430000000000000♠43	7001327400000000000♠32.74

Honours

Player

• Scottish Football League: 1

1961–62

Manager

Clyde

• Scottish Second Division (2): 1977-78, 1981-82

Motherwell

• Lanarkshire Cup : 2009-10

Personal

Motherwell

• Scottish Premier League manager of the month
  • January 2010
  • February 2010

Aberdeen

• Scottish Premier League manager of the month
  • January 2012
  • October 2012