James Brown

Jim grew up in the famous Scottish golfing center of Troon in Ayrshire, but was actually born in the hospital in nearby Kilmarnock.

He was the oldest in a family of four boys and three girls. His brother John, a goalkeeper, who played for Hibernian and Clyde, earned a Scottish cap and Tom, the youngest was the goalkeeper for Ipswich Town for many years. All four boys, including Andrew, were scratch golfers. Jim left school at the age of 13 and served a full apprenticeship as a ship's riveter at the Troon shipyard. At the age of 19 he moved to the United States to join his father, and played for Bayonne Rovers a local team in New Jersey, and then for Newark in the American and Eastern Soccer league's during the 1928-29 season. Early in 1930 he signed for the New York Giants, then owned by Maurice Vandeweghe, in the Atlantic Soccer League, where his displays won him a spot on the first United States World Cup team. Jim headed for Montevideo, Uruguay on June 13, 1930 and played in all three games the U.S. took part in scoring the only U.S. goal in the semi-final against Argentina. He arrived home to find that the Giants had been sold to new owners and renamed the New York Soccer Club. He went on to play the fall season for New York but in the spring of 1931 moved on to the Brooklyn Wanderers. In 1932 he moved to England and signed for Manchester United where he played 40 games and scored 17 goals before being transferred to Brentford in 1935. In his first game with Manchester United On September 17, 1932 he scored direct from a corner kick in a Second Division game against Grimsby Town. He went on to play for Brentford, where he appeared at inside and center forward, Tottenham Hotspur and Guilford, in the Southern League, and then briefly with Clyde before retiring as a player in 1939. A strong union man he later observed that he felt that his open support of abortive efforts to form a players union in England had a negative effect on his playing career. In 1948 he emigrated to the United States where he took up residence in Greenwich, Connecticut and commenced coaching the Greenwich High School team. He worked variously as a window cleaner and gardener. Jim established the Connecticut State Amateur League in 1950, serving as President, and also formed Greenport United that same year. At age 42 he came out of retirement to play alongside his son for two seasons, with Greenport winning the league championship in 1951. He later coached the Brunswick School soccer team for 22 years as well as the Polish Falcons of the American Soccer League in 1957 and 1958. Jim was married to Mary Cormack in 1932 and had two sons, James and George, and one daughter Marilyn. His oldest boy James died in 1946. He was inducted into the Connecticut State Hall of Fame in 2000. He and his son George, who was inducted in 1995, are unique in that they are the only father and son to be inducted into the Hall of Fame as players.

Hall of Famer Spotlight: Jim grew up in the famous Scottish golfing center of Troon in Ayrshire, Scotland, but was actually born in a hospital in nearby Kilmarnock. more>

U.S. National Team Statistics