Bobby Brown

FROM GOALS TO THE DUGOUT

FROM GOALS TO THE DUGOUT

This is Bobby Brown’s remarkable life in and out of football, highlighting his debut as Scottish manager in the famous Wembley win over world champions England in 1967.

The book charts his progress from schoolboy playing for Queens Park to Scottish international goalkeeper in wartime and after, drawing on countless original interviews and fascinating press cuttings gleaned from Brown’s own scrapbook. His Fleet Air Arm service is recounted, as is his honours-laden Rangers career, including his part in the first ever ‘Treble’, in 1949, as part of the club’s fabled ‘Iron Curtain’ defence. As a PE teacher, Brown was a part-timer in a full-time team, and he reveals the pressures that created.

His first managerial job at St Johnstone preceded being national manager, whose ‘highs and lows’ are recalled along with insights into many of the Scottish game’s leading figures. In 1971 Bobby left football to be a successful restaurateur and businessman. His non-football interests are covered including the outdoors, the church and family life – along with his delight at induction to the Scottish Football Hall of Fame.

Read Bobby Brown: A Life in Football, From Goals to the Dugout and you will discover:

  • How ‘Wee Bobby’ first played in goals with men from his village in rural Stirlingshire
  • The lesson he was taught, and never forgot, debuting for Queens Park against Celtic as a schoolboy
  • That Bobby is the oldest living Scottish international, aged 94 – and the last amateur ever to play for Scotland
  • The training he undertook as a Fairey Swordfish pilot with the Fleet Air Arm during WW2
  • How tears ran down his face during the anthem prior to Scotland v. England 1946, thinking of those lost in the war
  • The initial difficulties Bobby had to overcome when Bill Struth signed him for Rangers
  • How his wartime international captain Matt Busby tried to sign him for Manchester United
  • Why Alex Ferguson never forgave Bobby for his signing-on fee when manager of St Johnstone!
  • How he dealt on and off the pitch with Alf Ramsey, Tommy Lawton, Jock Stein, Ron Greenwood, Bill Nicholson and many other football greats

Click here for more information, or to read a sample from Bobby Brown.