Jason Brown (footballer)

Jason Brown

Personal information
Full name	Jason Brown
Height	5'11
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team	Blackburn Rovers
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of August 22 2006

Jason Brown (born 18 May 1982 in London) is a football goalkeeper currently playing for Blackburn Rovers. At 5'11" (180cm), Brown is comparatively short for a goalkeeper, but what he lacks in height, he makes up for with his positioning and shot-stopping abilities.

Brown started his career at Premiership side Charlton Athletic where he came through the youth system. With competition for places strong at The Valley he moved to Gillingham following a successful trial shortly before transfer deadline day in the 2001/02 season. Although he started on the bench for Gillingham, some poor performances by the number one goalkeeper at Gillingham at the time, Vince Bartram, meant that Brown started the final 10 games of the season. His steady manner, shot-stopping and steady kicking meant that he was soon established as the number one keeper.

During the 2002/03 season Brown notched up 44 starts in all competitions as he was firmly established as the Gills number one. During the season, Brown gained international recognition as he won his first Wales U-21 cap.

Injury and lack of form meant that Brown did not make as many appearance as he liked over the next two seasons, although he still managed 38 league starts in those two seasons. Brown slapped in a transfer request to the disappointment of Gills' fans, although the request was later withdrawn.

At the beginning of the 2005/06 season with the Gills recently relegated to League One, Brown's time at Gillingham appeared to be numbered as the then manager Neale Cooper signed established goalkeeper Tony Bullock from SPL side Dundee United. However, Bullock sustained a knee injury in pre-season which left the door open for Brown who duly performed well to cement his place in the team. Brown's good form was rewarded with a call-up to the full Welsh squad, although he was only named on the bench and did not play.

Neale Cooper's departure in November 2005 spelt the end for Bullock who was duly sold to St Mirren in January 2006 by Ronnie Jepson. By the end of the 2005/06 season Brown had once again re-established himself as the Gills' first-choice goalkeeper. During the same season Brown was also involved in controversy when he reported racial abuse he had suffered from fans during a match at Chesterfield to the FA, and later stated in an interview that the Association had taken no action, claiming that they "had stuck it in a big file and got on with worrying about what Sven-Göran Eriksson is having for dinner" [1]

Jason Brown was voted the fans' player of the year for his performances during the 2005/06 season and was named in the Wales team for a friendly against a Basque XI on May 20th, although he ended up pulling out of the match due to his wife giving birth. Brown eventually made his full Welsh debut in the firendly against Trinidad and Tobago on May 27th 2006 [2].

Brown signed for Blackburn Rovers on 26th June [3] and since then he has been battling Peter Enckelman for second choice keeper. He has appeared 3 of 3 games on the bench for Rovers.

Trivia

At the start of both halves of each match he plays, Brown performs a ritual of resting his head against each of his posts in turn, with his eyes closed and his hands in front of him as if in prayer.

External links

• Jason Brown at Soccerbase