Biography

Young centre forward Chris Brown joined Hull City on loan from Sunderland in September 2005 and made his Tigers debut the following day. He started in all thirteen of his appearances but struggled to forge a lasting impression on the club, scoring his only City goal against Reading in October 2005. By the end of November 2005 it was agreed that things were not going to plan and Brown’s loan was terminated ahead of schedule.
Christopher Alan Brown was born in Doncaster but raised in Peterlee, a County Durham new town where his ex-Newcastle United and Sunderland footballer father Alan Brown hailed from – Alan was seeing out his professional career in Doncaster Rovers in the mid 1980s when Chris was born. Chris came through the academy ranks at his local side Sunderland, the team he supported as a youngster, and carved a fearsome goalscoring reputation during his teenage years. Chris was handed his first professional contract by Sunderland in July 2003, having missed the previous season entirely due to a cruciate ligament injury. In October 2003 he was loaned to League Division 3 side Doncaster Rovers and made his senior debut that month against Bristol Rovers, scoring in a 5-1 victory for his father’s former side. This fine form continued as Doncaster won seven of the first eight games that Brown played in, with Chris scoring six goals. After an injury layoff during December 2003 and January 2004 Brown returned to first team action and stayed with Rovers as they pipped Hull City to the League Division 3 title, scoring ten goals in 22 appearances.
Brown returned to the Stadium of Light for the 2004/05 season and scored twice on his Black Cats debut, a September 2004 League Cup tie against Crewe Alexandra. He was part of the Championship side’s first team squad throughout the season, often coming off the bench, and netted seven goals as Sunderland won the Championship title – Brown’s second league winners’ gong in consecutive seasons. It was this form and reputation that he carried into his loan spell at Hull City at the start of the 2005/06 season.
Brown returned to the Black Cats in November 2004 and made his Premier League debut later that month against Birmingham City – he scored his first Premier League goal against Fulham in May 2006 as Sunderland slipped back into the Championship. He started the 2006/07 Championship season once again on the fringes of the first team squad and by January 2007 he had taken his Sunderland tally to eleven goals in 69 senior appearances.
In January 2007 Championship side Norwich City paid £325,000 to claim Brown’s signature and he made his Canaries debut later that month against Plymouth Argyle. After a successful opening month at Norwich Chris suffered a hamstring injury that meant he missed the rest of the season, when he returned to first team action at the start of the 2007/08 season he struggled for goals and by the end of December 2007 he had scored one goal for Norwich City in just 24 appearances. In January 2008 he transferred to Championship rivals Preston North End for a £400,000 fee and immediately established himself in the Lilywhites’ front line, scoring his first goal in his second appearance against Stoke City. For the next three and a half seasons Brown was a regular first team presence, continuing to combine starting duties with appearances off the bench and scoring a steady stream of goals. He played in both of Preston’s May 2009 play-off semi-final legs against Sheffield United, which ended in narrow defeat, and by the end of the 2010/11 season he had scored 23 goals for the Deepdale side in 119 appearances.
Now a free agent, in July 2011 Brown signed again for his birthplace club Doncaster Rovers where he spent three seasons as Rovers yoyoed between the Championship and League One. Absent for much of the 2011/12 season, Brown was a first team regular for the next two seasons and by May 2014, when Doncaster were again relegated to League One, Brown had added 23 goals and 97 appearances to his Rovers tally.
In June 2014 Chris joined Championship side Blackburn Rovers but needed knee surgery within weeks of signing and wasn’t able to make his debut until the end of November 2014, against Middlesbrough. He struggled for game time and form over the next two seasons, failing to score in 41 appearances for Blackburn and failing to impress the Ewood Park support. In August 2016 Chris joined League One side Bury but continued problems with his knee meant he never made his debut for the Shakers and he retired at the end of the 2016/17 season.
Following his playing career Brown co-presented Undr the Cosh, a football podcast, with another ex-Tiger Jon Parkin. This sports media career was perhaps founded on the notoriety he gained in December 2006, when he was the off-camera commentator in a widely published sex tape that featured several Sunderland footballers, notably an excitable Liam Lawrence.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 11 December 1984, Doncaster
Hull City First Game: 10 September 2005, Crystal Palace A (Championship), 20 years, 273 days old
Hull City Final Game: 22 November 2005, Southampton H (Championship), 20 years, 346 days old
Clubs
Sunderland (2002-2007), Doncaster Rovers (2003-2004, loan), Hull City (2005, loan), Norwich City (2007-2008), Preston North End (2008-2011), Doncaster Rovers (2011-2014), Blackburn Rovers (2014-2016), Bury (2016-2017)
Hull City Record
Career: 13 apps, 1 goals
Chris BrownSeason | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2005/06 | 13 (0) | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |