Michael Robert Brown (born 25 January 1977) is an English former professional footballer and football manager who now works as a pundit.
An England under-21 international midfielder, his hard-tackling style sometimes caused him to take criticism from others in the game. He began his career with Manchester City having come through their youth ranks. He was named the club's Player of the Year in 1998 before featuring in their Second Division play-off final victory in 1999. He also spent time on loan at Hartlepool United, Portsmouth and Sheffield United, before he was sold to Sheffield United for a £400,000 fee in January 2000. He scored 36 goals in 174 appearances during a four-year stay in Sheffield, being named as the club's Player of the Year in 2002 and named on the PFA Team of the Year the following year.
He moved back to the Premier League with Tottenham Hotspur for a £500,000 fee in January 2004. After two years with Spurs, he moved on to Fulham for an 18-month stay. He was transferred to Wigan Athletic in July 2007, where he would spend two seasons before making the move to Portsmouth in August 2009. He played for the club in their 2010 FA Cup final defeat to Chelsea, but could not prevent them from being relegated out of the top-flight that same year. He joined Leeds United in July 2011 and went on to spend the next three years at Elland Road. He signed with Port Vale in July 2014 and also took on a coaching role with them before becoming assistant manager to Bruno Ribeiro in June 2016. He was promoted to caretaker manager following Ribeiro's resignation in December 2016. Still, he could not prevent relegation from EFL League One at the end of the 2016–17 season, after which he was confirmed as the club's permanent manager. With the club lying bottom of the English Football League, he was sacked in September 2017. He has since gone on to work as a pundit and summariser for BBC Sport, Sky Sports and Quest.
Brown was born in Hartlepool on 25 January 1977. His father, Robert (Bobby), helped to run Hartlepool Lion Hillcarter F.C. His mother, Barbara, was involved with the Hartlepool netball club, Oakesway. Brown attended High Tunstall Comprehensive School and represented the school football team at county level.
Brown graduated through the Manchester City youth scheme before signing professionally for the club on 13 September 1994. While a youth player he played in several positions before establishing himself as a central midfielder. He captained the youth team in the 1994–95 season, leading to involvement with the first-team in the 1995 pre-season. Brown made his debut for Manchester City on 26 August 1995 against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road, in which Brown was sent off only 10 minutes after coming on as a substitute for Steve Lomas. Despite this inauspicious start to his career he was played from the start four days later at Maine Road as City were beaten 2–0 by Everton. He went on to feature as the "Citizens" main back-up player, making 16 Premier League starts and five substitute appearances during the 1995–96 relegation season.
He began the 1996–97 season as a first-team regular under manager Alan Ball after midfielder Garry Flitcroft had left the club. He reflected about the first-team opportunities, saying: "I was very young and was playing well in the youth team, the first-team weren't doing so well and I kind of got fast-tracked into the squad. I got a chance and did okay. I played quite a lot that season which was fantastic. Alan was the manager and he gave me a chance. It was a great club and to be at that age and go from nowhere to the first-team was pretty special." However, Ball was sacked and his successor Steve Coppell and Coppell's successor Frank Clark kept Brown out of the starting line-up. He was instead loaned out to his home town club Hartlepool United in March 1997 and featured in six Third Division matches at Victoria Park under Mick Tait's stewardship. He scored his first goal in the Football League for "Pools", opening the scoring in a 2–1 win over Darlington at Feethams on 19 April.
Brown worked his way back into the "Sky Blues" starting eleven midway through the 1997–98 season and scored his first goal for the club in the FA Cup on 3 January in a 2–0 win over Bradford City. In total, he made 27 appearances during the 1997–98 campaign as City were relegated out of the First Division. One of the few causes for optimism during a bad spell, he was named the club's Player of the Year.
He became a key member of the squad that won promotion out of the Second Division, featuring 39 times throughout the 1998–99 campaign. He started in the play-off final against Gillingham at Wembley Stadium, before being replaced by Ian Bishop after 61 minutes.
However, Joe Royle never utilised Brown in the First Division, and he was instead loaned out to divisional rivals Portsmouth in November 1999, who were then managed by his former City boss Alan Ball. He played four games for "Pompey" but left Fratton Park days before Ball was sacked.
Newly appointed Sheffield United manager Neil Warnock was impressed by Brown in his performance for Portsmouth in a 1–0 defeat to United at Bramall Lane on 4 December, and subsequently took Brown on loan later that month. After only four performances for the "Blades" Warnock was convinced enough to spend £400,000 take Brown to Bramall Lane permanently. He scored his first goal for his new club against his former employers, Manchester City, in a 1–0 home win on 22 January. He ended the 1999–2000 season with three goals in 24 games.
He made 40 appearances during the 2000–01 campaign and scored against Steel City rivals Sheffield Wednesday in a 2–1 League Cup defeat at Hillsborough on 1 November. Brown heavily featured in the Battle of Bramall Lane; he limped off the field with an injury on 79 minutes leaving the game desperately short of players, and two minutes after he left the field another injury left United with only six players, forcing the game to be abandoned. He learned to add goals to his game during the 2001–02 season as Stuart McCall's defensive ability allowed Brown more licence to join the attack; he hit seven goals in 40 appearances and won the club's Player of the Year award.
He scored 22 goals in 54 appearances in the 2002–03 season and was named on the PFA Team of the Year alongside midfield partner Michael Tonge as they helped United to finish third in the First Division. He scored in both legs of the play-off semi-final victory over Nottingham Forest, and then played at the Millennium Stadium in the play-off final defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers, missing a 48th-minute penalty when Wolves were already three goals ahead.
Leeds United were linked with a £6 million approach for both Phil Jagielka and Brown in August 2003, though Sheffield United denied ever receiving such an offer. However, after being sent off twice in the first half of the 2003–04 season, manager Neil Warnock confirmed that with Brown out of contract at the end of the season he would be looking to sell Brown to the highest bidder.
Brown was signed by Tottenham Hotspur in January 2004 for a fee of £500,000. He scored his first top-flight goal in a 4–4 draw with Leicester City at White Hart Lane on 22 February. He played a total of 19 games for David Pleat's "Spurs" during the second half of the 2003–04 season.
He made 34 appearances in the 2004–05 campaign and scored goals against Norwich City in the league and against Bolton Wanderers in the League Cup. Brown's position in midfield for Tottenham was in a much deeper role than his position for Sheffield United. He found himself becoming a more defensive-minded midfielder. Although well appreciated by fans for his hard work and honest contribution, the strengthening of the Spurs midfield under Martin Jol threatened Brown's position in the team with signings like Edgar Davids, Hossam Ghaly and Danny Murphy adding competition for places with Michael Carrick and Jermaine Jenas already at the club.