Philip Brown (born 30 May 1959) is an English former professional footballer and coach who was most recently the manager of Barrow. As a player, Brown was a right-back who made over six hundred league appearances in an eighteen-year career, but never made it to the top flight. However, as a manager, he became the first to lead Hull City to the top division in their 104-year history, winning the Championship play-offs in 2008 after a 1–0 win against Bristol City at Wembley Stadium. He also guided Southend United to promotion from League Two to League One in 2014–15.
Since 2011, Brown has appeared as a match summariser on BBC Radio 5 Live.
Playing career
Born in South Shields, County Durham, and educated in the North East, Brown started his career playing Sunday league football for South Shields side Red Duster in the South Shields Business Houses League, in the same team as Ray Dunbar and Bobby Davison, who went on to play for Derby County and Leeds United.
As a professional, Brown played at full back for many years with Hartlepool United, followed by a spell at Halifax Town (with fellow north-easterner Billy Ayre at both clubs and under him at the latter), In 1988, he moved to Bolton Wanderers, winning the Associate Members Cup in 1989.
Brown joined Blackpool in 1994, playing under Sam Allardyce until 1996 while also being his assistant manager.
Managerial career
Coaching
Brown's first coaching role was as assistant to Sam Allardyce at Blackpool. He returned to Bolton Wanderers after his playing career ended and served as assistant manager to Colin Todd. Following Todd's departure in 1999, he took charge of the team as caretaker manager, winning four games out of five, until the appointment of Sam Allardyce. He then served as Allardyce's assistant for six years, before deciding to forge his own career as a manager.
Derby County
Brown's first full-time senior management position was at Derby County, where he succeeded George Burley in June 2005. His time at Derby County proved to be unsuccessful and he was sacked just seven months into his tenure in January 2006, after a 6–1 league defeat against Coventry City, followed by a 3–1 defeat to Colchester in the FA Cup fourth round. Derby were in 19th place when Brown departed.
Hull City
Championship and promotion
Brown was appointed as first-team coach at Hull City on 27 October 2006 under Phil Parkinson, and took over as joint caretaker manager alongside Colin Murphy on 4 December after Parkinson's sacking, with Hull in 22nd place in the Football League Championship. After taking Hull out of the relegation zone with three wins and a draw in the six matches as caretaker manager, he was appointed as the permanent manager of the club on 4 January 2007, while Murphy continued as his assistant.
Brown went on to lead The Tigers to Championship safety and the following season won promotion to the top level of English football for the first time in the club's 104-year history, by beating Bristol City at Wembley in the Championship play-off final on 24 May 2008. Brown described this as "the best day of my life, without a shadow of a doubt".
Premier League
Brown was rewarded with a new three-year contract, which he signed on the weekend of Hull City's first ever top-flight match, a 2–1 victory over Fulham on 16 August 2008. On 28 September Brown managed Hull to a 2–1 victory at Arsenal. It was only Arsenal's second defeat at the Emirates Stadium and was described by the Hull press as the greatest victory in the club's history. After a 1–0 victory at bottom of the table Tottenham Hotspur the following weekend, and a 3–0 away victory at the also newly promoted West Bromwich Albion, he was awarded the Manager-of-the-Month award for Hull's performances in September.
The first nine games Hull spent as a top division club resulted in six wins as they occupied third place in the Premier League and were only being kept off the top by Liverpool and Arsenal having superior goal difference.