[3] National Service obligations[4] and inability to dislodge captain Ken Whitfield from the centre-half position meant Brown did not make his senior debut until 9 November 1957, in a Third Division South match against Northampton Town.
[2] Albion won 4–2, and "the critics accorded him a fair share of the credit for ... their first victory at Northampton for 11 years",[5] but he returned to the reserves for the next match.
[3] Whitfield was reported to have asked for a transfer the following month,[6] but this came to nothing, and Brown appeared just twice more for Albion's first team before moving on after seven years with the club.
[7] Brown impressed immediately for Bournemouth: on his debut, the People described him as "a shining light [who] with the coolness of a veteran ... not only kept Higham in check but maintained complete command of the middle".
[3] After giving up full-time football, he remained in the Poole, Dorset, area where he worked as a carpenter[2] and where he died in 2005 at the age of 70.