Scott Brown

Scott Brown (born 25 June 1985) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who manages Scottish Championship side Ayr United.

A former midfielder, he is widely known for his 14-year tenure with Celtic, where he was club captain for 11 years and won ten Scottish league championships.

Brown was born on 25 June 1985 in Dunfermline, Scotland.

He attended Dalgety Bay Primary School, Hill of Beath Primary School and Beath High School.

Former Rangers and Scotland player Jim Baxter was also born in the village and a statue to him stands across the road from the house Brown grew up in.

Brown played with Rangers Boys Club and also trained with Falkirk during his childhood.

Around this time, Rangers also showed an interest, but informed him that he was too small to make the grade.

He joined Hibernian aged 13, after he was spotted by their chief scout John Park.

His mother Heather would regularly take Scott to Hibernian training sessions in Edinburgh and Motherwell, where he was coached by Gordon Rae and Keith Wright, among others.

Brown started his career with Hibernian, breaking into their first team in 2002.

Brown signed for Hibernian as a professional in 2002 and made his debut as a substitute in a 3–1 win against Aberdeen on 3 May 2003.

Brown, aged 17, said that he "was very nervous" about going on, but soon changed after he went on.

He helped set up all three of Hibs goals in that match.

Brown made his first starting appearance the following week, in a 1–0 win against Motherwell.

Brown then started in Hibs' remaining two matches of the season and scored in both, a double in a 2–1 win against Livingston and in a 3–2 defeat to Partick Thistle.

Brown was part of a "Golden Generation" for Hibs, also including players like Kevin Thomson, Garry O'Connor, Derek Riordan, Steven Whittaker and Steven Fletcher, who all progressed through their youth team at around the same time.

Brown became a regular in the Hibernian team in the 2003–04 season, playing 41 times in all competitions and scoring four goals.

Despite only finishing eighth in the SPL, Hibs reached the 2004 League Cup final, defeating both Celtic and Rangers en route, but they lost 2–0 to Livingston in the final.

Brown featured in all of the matches in that cup run and scored in the 9–0 win over Montrose in the third round.

Hibs enjoyed greater success under the guidance of new manager Tony Mowbray, finishing third in the 2004–05 Scottish Premier League.

Brown missed four months of the season, due to an injury sustained against Celtic.

He consequently played in only 23 matches, scoring just twice, but this included the second goal in a 3–1 win over Celtic at Celtic Park on 30 April.

Brown played for Scotland at under-19 and under-21 levels before making his full international debut in November 2005, aged 20.

The 2005–06 season was also blighted somewhat by injury, as Brown missed most of the second half of the season due to a broken leg sustained in a challenge by Hearts midfielder Julien Brellier.

He therefore missed the Scottish Cup semi-final defeat against Hearts.

Brown returned from injury in the last Edinburgh derby of the season, coming on as a substitute in a 2–1 win for Hibs.

His only trophy with Hibs was the 2006–07 Scottish League Cup; in that season he also won the SFWA Young Player of the Year award.

Brown agreed a new contract with Hibs in March 2006.

In May 2007, he transferred to Celtic for a fee of £4.4 million, the highest transfer fee paid between two Scottish clubs.

During Brown's time at Celtic, the club won ten Scottish championships, six Scottish Cups, and six Scottish League Cups.

He did not play for Scotland again until March 2007, but then became a regular in the squad.

Individually, Brown won the PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year award twice, in 2008–09 and 2017–18, and the Scottish Footballer of the Year award in 2017–18.

He made more European appearances for Celtic than any other player.

Brown left Celtic in June 2021, when he signed for Aberdeen and also became their assistant manager.

Brown would spend 9 months at Pittodrie before leaving the club in March 2022 and retiring as a player two months later.

He scored his first goal for the senior team on 5 September 2009 in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification win against Macedonia.

He captained the club to nine consecutive championships, and successive trebles in 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19 and 2019–20.

In March 2016, he won his 50th cap and was inducted into Scotland's Scottish FA International Roll of Honour.

Following his retirement as a player, Brown became manager of EFL League One club Fleetwood Town in May 2022, but was sacked after just over a year in the job.

He then became head coach of Ayr United in January 2024.