Derek Brown | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
OVERALL STATISTICS | |||||||
| BIRTH | AGE | SIGNED ON | FROM | ||||
| DEBUT | LAST MATCH | LEFT | |||||
| CAREER | APPEARANCES (SUBS) | ||||||
| TRIES | GOALS | DGOALS | PTS | ||||
Biography of Derek Brown | ||||
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 HERITAGE NO : 755 Derek Brown by Adrian Lawrenson It is a great source of civic pride the number of local lads that sign for St Helens RFC and one prolific source of this stems from Blackbrook ARLFC. For instance, in the 1950s, when Saints were at the summit of the league, team mates Brian McGinn, Dave Harrison, Jimmy Measures, Tommy Finney and our subject Derek Brown were all acquired from Blackbrook ARLFC and played for the Saints first team. Derek is a local lad who was born on 8th March 1936 and made his debut against Warrington on 25th August 1958. It was a mighty St Helens pack: Terry, McKinney, Prescott, Briggs, Huddart and Karalius. However, as a result of captain Prescott’s never to be forgotten courage in the second test at Brisbane in 1958, and his subsequent broken arm, a spot in the pack was up for grabs. Derek had first chance, followed by Jimmy Measures, Dennis Karalius and Fred Terry. Derek was picked for the team that was beaten by Oldham in the Lancashire Cup final. He even helped out as an emergency goal-kicker when Peter Fearis was unavailable, kicking a goal at Parkside in an 11-19 defeat by Hunslet on 24th January 1959 and again at Central Park on Good Friday on the day that Wigan got their record attendance when they beat Saints 19-14. Upon the return of Alan Prescott, Derek filled in on several occasions during the 1959-60 season. Saints’ first efforts to replace Prescott came when they signed Len Hammill from Bramley. However, Derek won his place back and stayed in the team to the end of the 1959-60 season, playing in the notorious Top 4 play off defeat by Wigan at Knowsley Road, which gave us the dismissals of Saints’ Alex Murphy and winger Mike Sullivan, who just happened to have been selected at stand off to come up against the volatile Murphy. Derek’s swansong was the first league match of the 1960-61 season on 13th August 1960, in a 16-4 defeat at Oldham and it is believed that he moved to Rochdale Hornets, following a Saints’ career that encompassed 32 appearances, with 2 goals and a try, the latter scored against Halifax on 13th September 1958, in a 45-20 win. Derek Brown was a promising player in his youth, who had captained Lancashire Schoolboys at 14. He is Brian McGinn’s second cousin and they grew up next door to each other. A bad knee injury in the A team was the precursor to his career coming to a premature end. After a long illness, Derek passed away on 6th May 2021 at the age of 81. | ||||
PLAYER HONOURS | ||||
SEASON STATISTICS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season (Official Matches) | Tries | Goals | DGoals | Matches |
| 1958~59 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 18 |
| 1959~60 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 1960~61 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| TOTALS: | 1 | 2 | 0 | 32 |
| Season (Other Matches) | Tries | Goals | DGoals | Matches |
| TOTALS: | ||||
ALL MATCHES | ||||
| Date | Match | Pos | Opponents | Comp | Venue | FT | FTO | T | G | DG | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25th Aug 1958 | 1 | W |
10 | Warrington | L | H | 15 | 7 | VIEW | |||
| 30th Aug 1958 | 2 | W |
10 | Rochdale Hornets | LC1 | A | 20 | 15 | VIEW | |||
| 6th Sep 1958 | 3 | W |
10 | Wakefield Trinity | L | A | 24 | 14 | VIEW | |||
| 8th Sep 1958 | 4 | W |
10 | Leigh | LC2 | A | 12 | 2 | VIEW | |||
| 13th Sep 1958 | 5 | W |
10 | Halifax | L | H | 45 | 20 | 1 | VIEW | ||
| 11th Oct 1958 | 6 | W |
10 | Wakefield Trinity | L | H | 15 | 8 | VIEW | |||
| 25th Oct 1958 | 7 | L |
10 | Oldham | LCF | N | 2 | 12 | VIEW | |||
| 1st Nov 1958 | 8 | W |
10 | Salford | L | A | 28 | 12 | VIEW | |||
| 6th Dec 1958 | 9 | W |
10 | Leeds | L | H | 38 | 12 | VIEW | |||
| 13th Dec 1958 | 10 | W |
10 | Swinton | L | H | 32 | 3 | VIEW | |||
| 20th Dec 1958 | 11 | W |
12 | Barrow | L | A | 7 | 5 | VIEW | |||
| 25th Dec 1958 | 12 | W |
10 | Leigh | L | A | 10 | 6 | VIEW | |||
| 24th Jan 1959 | 13 | L |
10 | Hunslet | L | A | 11 | 19 | 1 | VIEW | ||
| 16th Mar 1959 | 14 | W |
12 | Salford | L | H | 44 | 4 | VIEW | |||
| 27th Mar 1959 | 15 | L |
8 | Wigan | L | A | 14 | 19 | 1 | VIEW | ||
| 28th Mar 1959 | 16 | W |
10 | Liverpool City | L | A | 40 | 20 | VIEW | |||
| 30th Mar 1959 | 17 | W |
10 | Blackpool Borough | L | H | 46 | 11 | VIEW | |||
| 4th Apr 1959 | 18 | W |
10 | Halifax | L | A | 25 | 19 | VIEW | |||
| 17th Oct 1959 | 19 | W |
12 | Whitehaven | L | A | 15 | 12 | VIEW | |||
| 14th Nov 1959 | 20 | W |
12 | Dewsbury | L | A | 20 | 15 | VIEW | |||
| 21st Nov 1959 | 21 | W |
12 | Halifax | L | H | 25 | 10 | VIEW | |||
| 5th Dec 1959 | 22 | L |
10 | Workington Town | L | H | 11 | 12 | VIEW | |||
| 12th Dec 1959 | 23 | W |
10 | Rochdale Hornets | L | A | 40 | 4 | VIEW | |||
| 25th Dec 1959 | 24 | W |
10 | Leigh | L | H | 14 | 10 | VIEW | |||
| 20th Feb 1960 | 25 | W |
10 | Dewsbury | L | H | 25 | 4 | VIEW | |||
| 2nd Apr 1960 | 26 | W |
8 | Swinton | L | H | 46 | 10 | VIEW | |||
| 16th Apr 1960 | 27 | W |
10 | Whitehaven | L | H | 41 | 5 | VIEW | |||
| 18th Apr 1960 | 28 | W |
10 | Hull | L | A | 10 | 7 | VIEW | |||
| 23rd Apr 1960 | 29 | W |
10 | Hunslet | L | A | 20 | 8 | VIEW | |||
| 26th Apr 1960 | 30 | W |
10 | Oldham | L | A | 10 | 2 | VIEW | |||
| 7th May 1960 | 31 | L |
10 | Wigan | ChSF | H | 9 | 19 | VIEW | |||
| 13th Aug 1960 | 32 | L |
10 | Oldham | L | A | 4 | 16 | VIEW |
| *Unofficial Match. **Non Playing Sub. |
| WINS : 26 | LOSSES : 6 | DRAWS : |
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GALLERY |
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