Bobby Browne

Who was Bobby Browne?

Robert James Browne was a former Irish footballer who played as a wing half. He was one of ten children of Catherine and John, and his youngest brother Leonard was killed when HMS Firedrake was sunk.

Born in Derry, Ireland, Browne began his career with his local team, Derry City FC. There, he won a North-West Senior Cup and represented the Irish League in 1935. However, the Leeds United manager of the 1930s, Billy Hampson, seemed to have a predilection for young Irish talent, and one of the first he brought to Elland Road was Derry-man, Browne. It took a £1,500 fee to prise the talented wing-half from Derry in October 1935, and he went on to make well over a hundred appearances in the Leeds first-team.

Browne was capped six times for Ireland, with all caps coming between 1935 and 1938 whilst he was at Leeds.

When the Football League resumed in 1946, Browne was 34 years-old, and he played one more season with Leeds before finishing his League career with York City, although he subsequently joined Thorne Colliery as player-manager. Later, Browne joined the coaching staff at Halifax Town, and was briefly caretaker manager in October and November 1954.