 Wes Brown playing for Manchester United | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Wesley Michael Brown[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 13 October 1979 | ||
| Place of birth | Longsight, Manchester, England | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2] | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Sunderland | ||
| Number | 5 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1992–1996 | Manchester United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1996–2011 | Manchester United | 232 | (3) |
| 2011– | Sunderland | 28 | (1) |
| National team | |||
| 1998–2000 | England U21 | 8 | (0) |
| 1999–2010 | England | 23 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20:33, 2 November 2013 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). | |||
Wesley Michael "Wes" Brown (born 13 October 1979) is an English footballer who plays as a defenderfor Sunderland. Before joining Sunderland, Brown had spent his entire career at Old Trafford, having joined the Manchester United youth team in 1996. He made his senior debut in 1998 and became a regular first team player in the 1998–99 season, in which he was part of the club's Treble-winning team. After a year-long hiatus due to injury, Brown became a regular fixture in the first team from 2000 onwards. Over the next eight years he won numerous honours, including four more Premier League titles, an FA Cup, aLeague Cup, and another Champions League. Manager Alex Ferguson has stated that Brown is "without question the best natural defender this club has had for years."[3] And Gary Pallister has referred to Brown as a player who "reads the game well and has got pace to burn."[2] He joined Sunderland in July 2011.[4]
Brown earned his first England cap in 1999 and was selected to play at the 2002 World Cup. He played in the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers but England failed to progress to the final tournament. He scored his first international goal in 2008 against the Czech Republic. Brown announced his retirement from international football on 8 August 2010, just a day after being recalled to the England squad by Fabio Capello.
Club career
Manchester United
Born in Longsight, Manchester, Brown began his serious football career as a schoolboy playing for theBurnage High School and Fletcher Moss Rangers, a Greater Manchester youth side, and was a former student of the Lilleshall Hall FA School of Excellence, as well as spending time at United's football Academy, which he joined at the age of 12.[5] Brown showed talent and maturity at an early age, signing full professional terms with boyhood club Manchester United on 4 November 1996 at the age of 17.
Brown went on to success with the reserve and youth sides, winning the FA Youth Cup and a Lancashire Division One medal with the reserves. He also added two Jimmy Murphy (Young Player of the Year) awards to his collection, becoming only the second player to receive the award for a second time (the other being Ryan Giggs).[citation needed]
On 4 May 1998, Brown made his full first team Premiership debut against Leeds United, coming on as a substitute. His breakthrough would occur the next year, the 1998–99 season, where he made several first-team appearances at right-back as well as his more natural position of centre-back. The season could not have gone any better for Brown, as United completed The Treble, winning the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League.
Brown suffered the first of what would be a string of injuries while training for the 1999–2000 campaign. As a result, he did not play a single competitive game all season, while United went on to seal their sixth Premier League title in eight seasons.
His strong comeback the following year prompted praise from all corners, with club manager Alex Ferguson making waves by proclaiming Brown to be Manchester United's most talented defender.[3]
A fine 2000–01 campaign was followed by another solid year in 2001–02. His reputation grew even greater during the 2002–03 season, but again, his performances were marred by injury. Brown tore a knee ligament on the final day of the season, and did not return until midway through the 2003–04 season. Brown finished the season in good form, notably giving an imperious, man-of-the-match performance in the FA Cup semi-final win over Arsenal. It was after this fine display that Ferguson re-iterated his confidence in Brown's abilities.[6]
Brown was a member of the side that won the FA Cup that year, against Millwall at Cardiff, and later went on to collect runners-up medals in the 2005 and 2007 Finals.
The signing of Nemanja Vidić in January 2006, who would go on to forge a highly successful partnership with Rio Ferdinand, along with Brown's continuing injury problems, meant the defender continued to struggle to hold down a place in United's starting line-up. However, in the 2007–08 Brown established himself as the club's first choice right back. He ended the season by assisting Cristiano Ronaldo's goal in the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final, which United eventually won on penalty kicks to complete a league and European double.
After nearly three years without scoring a Premier League goal for United, Brown scored on 23 March 2008 against Liverpool, the first in a 3–0 win.[7]
After initially rejecting a new contract offer in December 2007,[8] Brown signed a new five-year contract along with fellow defender Rio Ferdinand and midfielder Michael Carrick in April 2008, which was to keep him at Old Trafford until 2013 and ended any transfer speculation.[9]
On 4 October 2008, Brown scored only the fourth goal of his Manchester United career when he headed in Wayne Rooney's cross in United's 2–0 win away to Blackburn Rovers. The goal was controversial, however, as Blackburn's players believed that Nemanja Vidić had impeded their goalkeeper, Jason Brown, allowing Brown to head in at the far post.[10]
Brown was ruled out of first team action for around five weeks in November 2008, following an exploratory ankle operation.[11] Brown made his first start in eight months away against Hull City on 24 May 2009.
Brown started the following season, featuring throughout August in the league, but between September and October only appeared in United's League Cup campaign, before injury to both Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidić saw Brown return to Premier League action as he partnered Jonny Evans in central defence against Blackburn, and both men produced an assured and professional display. This was Brown's first Premier League start since the 2–1 victory against Arsenal, at the end of August.
Brown captained the League Cup game against Wolverhampton Wanderers in which they won 3–2. On 19 February, he scored his first ever FA Cup goal in Manchester United's 1–0 win over Crawley Town. He also captained United again in the Crawley match.
Sunderland
On 7 July 2011, Brown joined Sunderland on a four-year-deal for an undisclosed fee.[12] Brown made his debut on the opening day of the season at Liverpool, where he was awarded man of the match as Sunderland drew 1–1.[13] On 5 November 2011, Brown scored an own goal in a game against his former club, Manchester United.[14] Brown's first goal for Sunderland came on 21 December 2011, when he scored the winning goal with two minutes remaining in a 3–2 victory away to Queens Park Rangers.[citation needed] Brown's season ended through injury in the FA Cup Fourth Round tie with Middlesbrough in January 2012.
International career
Brown has represented England at international level making 23 appearances since making his debut in 1999, he was part of the England squads at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Japan.
Brown made his debut in 1999 against Hungary and booked a place in Sven-Goran Eriksson's squad for 2002 FIFA World Cup, although he spent his time on the bench.[3]
Brown performed consistently well in the 2005–06 season which led to his recall to the England squad for the friendly game against Uruguay. Although he played no part in this fixture he hoped to make it into the final England squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but he was not selected.
He was once again recalled to the England squad by coach Steve McClaren, and played in defeat of Andorra in the 2008 European Championships qualifiers on 2 September, partnering John Terry at the heart of the England defence, in place of injured Manchester United team mate Rio Ferdinand. He replaced Terry in a friendly against Brazil on 1 June 2007, but he slipped up with his first touch of the ball, and nearly scored an own goal.
Fabio Capello era
Fabio Capello named him as a starter in both of his first two games in charge of the national team, against Switzerland[15] and France.[16] He also played 56 minutes in England's 2–0 win over the United States on 28 May 2008.
Brown scored his sole senior international goal in a friendly against the Czech Republic on 20 August 2008 at Wembley Stadium, heading in a David Beckham corner in the 45th minute.[17]
Brown made three appearances for England in their qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in wins over Croatia (4–1), Kazakhstan (5–1) and Belarus (3–1).
Brown was called up for the England squad to face Slovenia in a friendly match on 5 September 2009, but was an unused substitute. He was then called up for a friendly against Brazil to be played Khalifa International Stadium in Qatar, where he played the full 90 minutes.
Brown also played in England's 3–1 win over Egypt on 3 March 2010. He did not, however, make the England squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa after an injury hit season.
Brown retired from international football on 8 August 2010, one day after being selected for a friendly against Hungary
