[1][2][3][4] Born in Lennoxtown, Stirlingshire[2] and raised in Blantyre, South Lanarkshire,[1][4] Brown started his career at St Mirren Boys Club[3][2] before signing for Hamilton Academical,[4] where he played part-time whilst working as a welder.

[2] One of his most notable contributions with the Accies was scoring a hat-trick in a 9–1 win over Berwick Rangers while playing at left back, of which none of the goals was a penalty: he became the first defender in the Scottish League ever to achieve this;[2][3] he stated that John Blackley, who was his teammate then manager at Hamilton, was an important influence on his early career.

[2][3] At the end of that season he was part of the Dark Blues team that defeated Hearts 2–0 on the final day[2] (setting up the first goal with a typically committed aerial challenge), allowing Celtic to overtake the Edinburgh club to take the title.

[5] Shortly after he had netted a winning goal against Rangers for a third time in September 1986,[3] Hearts made an approach to sign Brown, but he failed the medical examination having undergone several operations on his cartilage.

[7] In the 1992–93 season, Brown played in 59 matches, partnering Richard Gough in central defence in many of them,[4] as the club won the domestic treble, went on a long unbeaten run[2][8] and came close to reaching the final of the Champions League.

[2] Brown was appointed manager of Dundee on an interim basis in February 2013, with the club struggling to remain in the top division; the board described him as 'perfect' for the job.

[22] Preparations for that match were disrupted when long-serving goalkeeper Robert Douglas reacted badly to Brown signing Steve Simonsen;[23] The feud between the two men continued for some years afterwards.

[24][25] Brown managed to get his first win in a 2–1 victory against St Mirren, and speaking to BBC Scotland's Jim Spence afterwards stated his belief that the club might have a chance of survival.