[3] As a player, he was a defender in the Football League for Burnley, Torquay United, Halifax Town, York City and Bury.

Born in Easington, County Durham, Brass began his career as a schoolboy at Ipswich Town before progressing through the youth system at Burnley as a trainee,[1] where he turned professional on 8 July 1993.

In that summer, Stan Ternent replaced Waddle, and made Brass captain, but the latter struggled to keep his form and found himself in the reserves.

After the loan was up, Halifax could not afford to sign him and he returned to the Burnley reserves, before joining York City on a free transfer in March 2001.

[6] Although his first season in charge began well, York failed to win any of their final 20 league games and were relegated to the Football Conference.

He remained at York as a player and, after suffering a serious ligament injury, joined Harrogate Town on loan in September 2005 in an attempt to regain match-fitness.

[12] He scored a notable own goal, when attempting an overhead clearance in the game against Darlington, kicking the ball into his nose and subsequently the net.

"[15] He signed a new one-year contract with Bury in June 2006,[16] being released at the end of the 2006–07 season, but was asked to return to pre-season training to prove his fitness before a decision could be made on his future.

[19] He became Bury's caretaker manager on 15 January 2008, following the sacking of Chris Casper,[20] and remained in post until the appointment of Alan Knill on 4 February 2008.