Coaching and Managerial Career
When John Bond was appointed manager of Bournemouth in 1970, Brown was appointed as his assistant manager, and in November 1973, Brown followed Bond to Norwich City, again acting as assistant manager. In October 1980, Bond left to manage Manchester City and Brown took over the reins at Norwich, though was unable to stop them being relegated. The following season Norwich were promoted back to Division One at the first attempt. They won the League Cup in 1985, but were relegated at the end of the season, only to bounce back at the first attempt again the following season as Second Division champions.
Their next season back in the top flight saw Brown lead his side to 5th place, then Norwich's highest ever final position until Dave Stringer's days when they finished 4th (they would later finish 3rd under Mike Walker) and a far cry from the usual relegation battles. The following season, Norwich started badly – due mainly to the departure of Brown's assistant Mel Machin, with whom he had forged a successful partnership – and after a poor run of form Norwich chairman Robert Chase sacked Brown on 9 November 1987. In addition to his success on the pitch at Norwich, he had displayed a great ability for spotting talent at lower league clubs and in the reserve sides of other top flight clubs. The likes of Dave Watson, Steve Bruce, Ian Crook, Mike Phelan and Bryan Gunn were all brought to the club by Brown.
In early December 1987 he looked after the Shrewsbury Town side for one match, but decided against taking the job permanently and took time out of football instead. In July 1988 he was appointed manager of Plymouth Argyle, where one of his signings was his son Kenny Junior from Norwich City, who would later be sold to West Ham United for £170,000. Brown was controversially sacked as Plymouth manager in February 1990, and decided to once more take time away form football. In 1994 he was approached by England manager Terry Venables to work part-time as a scout, a duty he has since also performed for Glenn Hoddle and Kevin Keegan, whilst maintaining his business interest in the Lakenham Leisure Centre in Norwich.
In February 2004 he was guest of honour at Carrow Road for the home game against West Ham to celebrate the opening of a new stand, when a special presentation was made to Brown to commemorate his 70th birthday.
Read more about this topic: Ken Brown (footballer)
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