Brown Jock Image 1 Clyde 1938

Description

Troon, Ayrshire born goalkeeper Jock Brown played for Glenburn Rangers and Shawfield Juniors and was a Scottish Junior international against England in 1935 before being signed by Clyde, for whom he soon ousted regular goalkeeper Willie Stevenson from between the sticks. He was described as the “possessor of a ‘safe as houses’ clutch, his uncanny anticipation enables him to take the hardest of shots without effort”.

While at Clyde he played for The Scottish League in a 3-1 defeat to The Football League at Molineux in November 1938, and represented Scotland in a 3-2 win over Wales at Tynecastle a week later.

Brown’s football career was then greatly interrupted by the Second World War, by when he had played 129 matches for Clyde, but during the last season completed before the War he was the custodian of the Clyde team that won the 1939 Scottish Cup. Brown only conceded one goal in the whole competition en route to winning the Scottish Cup, a penalty kick in a 4-1 win against Rangers. He later complained that he would not have conceded even that solitary goal if Rangers had used their regular penalty taker, Bob McPhail, because Brown knew where McPhail normally placed his penalties. In the Final Clyde comprehensively outplayed Motherwell, winning 4-0 in front of 94,000 spectators at Hampden Park.

During the War, he entered the service of the Royal Navy, while making guest appearances for Hamilton Academical, St Mirren and Airdrieonians. He transferred to Hibernian in 1942, but played for Gillingham of England’s Kent League between 1944 and 1946. Upon returning to Hibernian, he helped them win the Scottish League Championship in 1947-48, making 12 appearances for them in peacetime competition.

Brown then had spells with Dundee, where he made 14 appearances in 1948-49, and Kilmarnock where he made a single appearance in 1949-50 for Killy before retiring as a player in 1950. He then became a physiotherapist, working for Kilmarnock, the All Blacks and the Scotland national rugby union team. Brown was the first person to serve in that function for the Scotland rugby side. He was also considered an excellent golfer, playing off scratch.

Brown was part of a sizeable sporting family. His sons Peter and Gordon both played for Scotland at rugby union, while two of his brothers, Tom and Jim, also played professional football. Jim was selected by the United States for the 1930 FIFA World Cup.