Biography
Burly Irish centre forward Paddy Brown joined Hull City in February 1947 as manager Frank Buckley grappled with the challenge of building a competitive squad during the first Football League season following World War Two. Within three weeks Brown had done enough to warrant a place in City’s first team attack and he immediately delivered with a debut winning goal in a 1-0 victory over Chester. He added further goals in late March at Wrexham (another 1-0 City win) and in early April against Carlisle (a 2-0 win). Three goals leading to three wins in seven starts was a strong performance, however he was absent for the rest of the season and moved on during the 1947 close season.
Ronald Brown, also called Paddy and Harry, was born in Ballymoney, a rural County Antrim town. An Irish schoolboy international footballer before the outbreak of World War Two, Brown served in the Royal Navy and it was while stationed at Plymouth in 1945 that he began to play for the Pilgrims in the unofficial Football League South that had been formed ahead of resumption of senior football. Brown struck seventeen goals in 24 starts for Plymouth during the 1945/46 season, where the standard of football varied wildly week to week in tune with the availability of players still completing their military service. Brown remained on Plymouth’s books when the Football League resumed in the 1946/47 season, but he was not able to break back into the first team and was allowed a free transfer move to Hull City in February 1947.
Brown left the Tigers in the 1947 close season and signed for Belfast-based Irish League side Linfield while also taking work as a school master. By March 1948 he had performed well enough to attract the attention of First Division side Blackburn Rovers, who signed Brown in return for a small fee and the promise of bringing a first team squad to Ireland for a friendly match. While Brown was not selected for any First Division matches by Blackburn, he was in the Rovers squad for this friendly game against Linfield played at Windsor Park at the end of April 1948 that finished 3-2 to Blackburn thanks to a Brown hattrick. This impressive performance was not enough to encourage Blackburn to retain Paddy, but it did attract the attention of Second Division side Brentford who signed him in June 1948. An injury during pre-season meant that Brown was unable to make any meaningful contribution for the Bees and he disappeared from footballing view after September 1948.
Brown later moved to Nottingham where he died in June 1968 at just 45 years of age.
Details
Nationality: Northern Ireland
Date/Place of Birth: 20 March 1923, Ballymoney
Hull City First Game: 6 March 1947, Chester H (Division Three North), 23 years, 351 days old
Hull City Final Game: 7 April 1947, Carlisle United H (Division Three North), 24 years, 18 days old
Clubs
Plymouth Argyle (1945-1947), Hull City (1947), Linfield (1947-1948), Blackburn Rovers (1948), Brentford (1948)
Hull City Record
Career: 7 apps, 3 goals
Paddy Brown| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1946/47 | 7 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |