Tommy Brown (footballer, born 1896)


Thomas Henry Brown was an English professional footballer who made 59 appearances in the Football League playing as an outside left for Brighton & Hove Albion, Cardiff City, Bristol City, South Shields and Luton Town.

Life and career

Brown was born in 1896 in Darlington, County Durham, where he attended Haughton-le-Skerne School. He played for the Close Works team before signing for Portsmouth, for whom he made five Southern League appearances in the early part of the 1919–20 season. After even briefer spells with Spennymoor United of the North-Eastern League and Norwich City of the Southern, Brown turned professional with Brighton & Hove Albion in January 1920. He went straight into their Southern League team, and kept his place for the first couple of months of the inaugural season of the Football League Third Division, but was displaced by Zach March. He was released at the end of that season and moved on to seasons with Cardiff City, Bristol City, South Shields and Luton Town, never establishing himself with any of those clubs, before returning to non-league football with Poole of the Western League.