HARRY BROWN

Full Name: Harold Thomas Brown

Born: 09 April 1924

Came from: Queens Park Rangers   Went to: Exeter City

First game: 01 September 1956   Last game: 26 April 1958

Appearances: 68 (68/0)   Goals: 0

Born in Kingsbury, Middlesex, Brown began his career as a teenage goalkeeper with Queens Park Rangers in 1942, making 85 war-time appearances for the club. He also represented the Football Association on a couple of occasions. During the Second World War, he also turned out as a guest for Brentford (three appearances), Crystal Palace (two) and Tottenham Hotspur (three), as well as making one appearance for Arsenal.

His Arsenal appearance came in unusual circumstances during a famous fog-disrupted friendly against Dinamo Moscow in November 1945. Brown had gone to watch the match, which also featured Stanley Matthews and Stan Mortensen playing for Arsenal. When the Gunners' goalkeeper was injured during the first half, with no substitute available, a call went out for any goalkeepers in the crowd to report to the home dressing room. Brown arrived just before Charlton Athletic's Sam Bartram and was selected to play the remainder of the match. The game itself was staged at White Hart Lane, as Highbury had been requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence for the war effort, after being bomb damaged and was used for training and air-raid shelter storage whilst unfit for matches.

While stationed at Colchester Garrison during the war, Brown also made 12 guest appearances for Colchester United in the Southern League between October 1945 and April 1946, keeping three clean sheets.

Brown left Rangers for Notts County in 1946, making 102 appearances for the Meadow Lane club. After three seasons, he moved to Derby County in 1949, where he made 40 appearances over two seasons.

He returned to QPR in 1951 and became first-choice goalkeeper at Loftus Road, making a further 201 appearances over the next five years.

In 1956, he moved to the south west to join Argyle following the retirements of Bill Shortt and Les Major. He served the club well over the next two seasons under Jack Rowley, making 68 appearances.

Brown retired from professional football in 1958 and became the landlord of a pub in Plymstock, but soon agreed to sign for Exeter City on a part-time basis. He played for their reserves during a brief spell at the club but did not make a first-team appearance. Throughout his career, he was known for his reliability and shot-stopping ability, making more than 400 appearances in senior football.

In later life, he settled in Trowbridge, in Wiltshire, where his death was registered in the December quarter of 1981, meaning he passed aged 57.