OBITUARY: Craig Brown was an innovator whose enthusiasm for football never waned… his feats in taking Scotland to Euro ’96 and the 1998 World Cup were only truly recognised after the two decades of mediocrity that followed
In 1962, Craig Brown shared a league-winning dressing room with Alan Gilzean. Last month, he shared a stage with Kyogo Furuhashi at the PFA Scotland awards.
Brown’s remarkable life connected whole eras within Scottish football. And his relevance endured throughout.
As a player, coach, teacher, assistant manager, manager and club director, he brought intelligence, innovation, enthusiasm, decency and an often underestimated will to succeed. He achieved great things. And was trusted by the greats.
The phone call Brown regarded as ‘perhaps my biggest honour’ came when he was working as a lecturer at Craigie College in Ayr, alongside being the part-time manager of Clyde.
Alex Ferguson was on the line. ‘Broon, how would you like the holiday of a lifetime?’ were his opening words.
Craig Brown pictured with members of the Tartan Army ahead of Scotland’s opening game of the 1998 World Cup – against Brazil in the Stade de France
Brown’s accomplishments in guiding Scotland to Euro ’96 and the 1998 World Cup in France were only truly recognised after two decades of underachievement that followed
Brown chats with Sir Alex Ferguson at the Scotland vs Holland play-off match for Euro 2004 – he was part of Fergie’s staff for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico
After the death of Jock Stein, Ferguson was taking Scotland to the 1986 World Cup finals in Mexico. He wanted Brown to join Walter Smith and Archie Knox on his coaching staff. A reply was swift. Brown packed his bags.
It would be another 15 years, after he stepped down as Scotland manager in 2001, before all his feats with the national side could be unpacked, laid out and examined. Even then, however, it felt too close for proper appreciation.
The scale of Brown’s work was only clarified as the country waited two decades for another appearance at a major finals.
Without question, he is a figure of real significance in the story of the Scottish game.
Brown was blessed with some very good players but not the depth of glittering quality afforded to some of his predecessors. He made his teams cohesive. He often found solutions.
During 70 games in charge, more than any other Scotland manager, he created collective memories.
Brown’s list of major tournament involvement is extraordinary. After his Mexico sojourn, he reached a World Cup and a European Championship as Andy Roxburgh’s assistant while also taking charge of Scotland’s youth teams.
In 1989, he coached the under-16s to the final of the World Championship. Three years later, he took the Under-21s to the semi-finals of the Euros.
Appointed Scotland manager in December 1993, he reached Euro 96 and the 1998 World Cup.
Brown relaxes with Paul Lambert and Darren Jackson at a cafe during the 1998 World Cup
Brown issues instructions during the 1-1 draw with Norway in Bordeaux in the 1998 tournament
Failures to make the next two tournaments clouded immediate opinions and prompted Brown’s departure. Context came with subsequent miseries under Berti Vogts.
Those in the Tartan Army who had grown a little weary of Brown soon pined for his era. Seven managers, some better than others, would come and go before Steve Clarke ended a 23-year exile from the game’s biggest stages.
In that intervening period, recollections of 1998 acquired a particular potency. Scotland were pitched against holders Brazil in the opening game, which was watched on television by almost a third of the world’s population.
Brown’s biggest problem? How to stop Ronaldo. He phoned Bobby Robson, who had coached the peerless striker at PSV Eindhoven and Barcelona.
‘You can’t stop him,’ came the less than comforting advice. ‘He’s unstoppable.’
Brown therefore resolved to cut off his supply line. A meticulous gameplan involved the surprise selection of Darren Jackson to try and inhibit Roberto Carlos. It very nearly paid off in full.
Brown passes on instructions to Barry Ferguson during the qualifying play-off for Euro 2000, which was lost 2-1 on aggregate to England
While a 2-1 defeat – sealed by Tom Boyd’s unfortunate own goal – added another glorious failure to Scotland’s rich history of such things, pride was indisputably preserved in front of the viewing billion.
As a player, Brown had been a schoolboy international left-half. Good enough to sign for Rangers. He never made a first-team appearance at Ibrox but took note of how manager Scot Symon operated.
‘If he unconsciously influenced my career, it would have been to confirm that it is no fault to be courteous and that kindness should never be mistaken for softness,’ Brown once said.
A move to Dundee brought greater involvement and a league medal as part of Bob Shankly’s legendary 1961-62 squad.
But his playing career was curtailed. At the age of 27, after a spell with Falkirk, he was forced to retire following a fifth operation on his knee.
By then, Brown had already attained an SFA coaching qualification. He became assistant manager to Willie McLean at Motherwell, spending three years at Fir Park before succeeding Billy McNeill – an old team-mate for Scotland’s schoolboys – as manager of Clyde in 1977.
Brown’s time as Scotland boss came to an end in October 2001 after they failed to reach the World Cup in Japan and South Korea
Brown’s nine years at Shawfield delivered the old Second Division championship and a transformation of club finances – largely thanks to his expert eye for a player. Steve Archibald, Pat Nevin, Ian Ferguson and Gerry McCabe were among those sold for profit.
Off the field, Brown was also involved in Clyde landing BOC – British Oxygen Company – as one of the first shirt sponsors in Scottish football. He knew the direction of travel within the game. It would remain a strength.
Scotland formed the centrepiece of his working life but there was plenty beyond it. Appointed at 61, two years with Preston North End brought more transfer profits and the introduction of successor Billy Davies.
Then came an eventful year at Motherwell, with Knox as assistant. Brown took them into Europe and witnessed an incredible 6-6 draw with Hibs. ‘I coached the attack, Archie coached the defence,’ he quipped.
Leaving for Aberdeen created rancour. When he returned to Fir Park with his new club in April 2011, he was confronted on the touchline by Motherwell chairman John Boyle in a flashpoint that drew headlines as well as SFA punishments for both.
After the national team, Brown went on to manager Preston, Motherwell and Aberdeen
Brown announced his intention to retire from management in 2013, becoming a non-executive director on the Aberdeen board after Derek McInnes assumed control of team affairs.
His time on the coaching front line was over at the age of 72 – 36 years after taking charge of Clyde – but age did not see him fade from the scene.
For those who write and speak about the game, Brown was always helpful in the hunt for comment or insight.
He loved to know what was going on. He could be wickedly funny with stories not intended for publication. He was regarded, rightly, as something akin to a national treasure.
Brown was at last month’s PFA Scotland dinner in the company of Knox to collect a lifetime achievement award on Ferguson’s behalf. His face was drawn and his voice weaker, but the same spirit was present.
Sitting with journalists in a side-room, he poked gentle fun at Knox while his old pal was being interviewed. Talk then turned to Scotland’s prospects in Oslo and how to deal with Erling Haaland.
You almost felt he would love to do it all again. But he did more than enough in his own time. Sport in this country has lost one of its finest servants.