Wayne Lawrence Brown (born 20 August 1977) is an English football coach and former player who was most recently manager of Colchester United.

He sealed a move to Colchester following his loan, where he made over 120 league appearances and helped guide the club to the Championship for the first time in their history in 2006.

After being deemed surplus to requirements, Brown finally wound down his playing career with local side Bury Town in 2011.

[3] He progressed through the youth team, eventually making his professional debut on 18 October 1997 while on a month-long loan with Third Division side Colchester United.

[4] He made just one first-team appearance for Ipswich in the 1998–99 season as a late substitute in their 2–1 win over Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.

[10] Brown scored his first and only goal of his Ipswich Town career on 29 August 2002 in their 8–1 UEFA Cup win against Avenir Beggen.

[11] Brown featured regularly in the early stages of the 2002–03 season, but would make his final Ipswich appearance on 3 November 2002 as Town fell to a 2–1 defeat to Crystal Palace at Portman Road.

During his stint, he received the first red card of his career for a second bookable offence in Colchester's 2–1 Second Division defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion on 20 March.

[15] During the 2005–06 season Brown helped his side to second position in the League One table, earning promotion to the Championship for the first time in the club's history.

[20] Brown's good form continued into Colchester's inaugural season in English football's second tier, guiding the side to their highest-ever league finish of 10th position in the Championship.

[29] On 30 January 2009, Brown joined League One promotion hopefuls Leicester City on loan for the remainder of the 2008–09 season with a view to a permanent transfer in the summer.

[30] He made nine appearances for Leicester as he helped them to regain promotion to the Championship as League One champions after beating Southend United 2–0 on 18 April 2009.

[38] Preston North End manager Darren Ferguson brought Brown to the club following his mutually agreed release from Leicester on 6 July 2010.

Phil Brown had told Wayne that he would not be considered for selection,[37] and he was one of five players released by the club at the end of the season following Preston's relegation to League One.

However, he decided to sign for his former teammate at Colchester Richard Wilkins, who was managing Isthmian League side Bury Town at the time.

Brown signed on 18 October 2011, turning down offers from Football League sides in order to not uproot his young family and reluctance to be a squad player.

[37] Brown made his debut for Bury in their Isthmian League Cup first round win at home to Harlow Town on 18 October, keeping a clean sheet and playing the full 90-minutes of the 1–0 victory.

[39] He played his next and what would be his final game for the club in an FA Trophy first qualifying round match against Aveley on 22 October, but was replaced by Roscoe Hipperson after just 16-minutes due to injury.

[52] On 24 February 2021, with the 2020–21 Isthmian League suspended due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Brown was named interim manager of Colchester United for a second spell, following Steve Ball's exit from the role.