Jonathan Brown (Welsh footballer)

Jonathan David Brown (born 27 April 1990) is a Welsh professional footballer and former Wales under-21 international who plays as a winger for USL Championship club OKC Energy FC.

For other footballers of the same name, see Jonathan Brown (disambiguation).

Jonathan Brown
Personal information
Full name Jonathan David Brown[1]
Date of birth (1990-04-27) 27 April 1990
Place of birth Bridgend, Wales
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Winger
Club information
Current team
 Oklahoma City Energy
Number 26
Youth career
2001–2007 Cardiff City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2007–2009 Cardiff City 2 (0)
2008–2009 → Wrexham (loan) 21 (3)
2009 Bryntirion Athletic 7 (0)
2009–2010 Central Coast Mariners 0 (0)
2010 Montegnée
2011 Bath City 2 (0)
2011–2012 Southport 20 (2)
2012 → AFC Telford United (loan) 14 (1)
2012–2013 AFC Telford United 18 (0)
2013 Suphanburi 25 (15)
2013–2014 Hereford United 36 (2)
2014 Brackley Town 9 (0)
2015 Customs United
2015–2016 Merthyr Town 57 (2)
2016–2017 Abahani Limited Dhaka 7 (4)
2017–2018 Oklahoma City Energy 34 (1)
2019 Hartford Athletic 11 (1)
2019 → Oklahoma City Energy (loan) 19 (1)
2020– Oklahoma City Energy 15 (2)
National team‡
2005–2007 Wales U17 16 (0)
2007 Wales U19 3 (1)
2008 Wales U21 7 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 6 October 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 4 October 2009

Early life

Born in Bridgend, Brown attended the Archbishop McGrath School as a youngster. Brown also competed in various sports, including rugby and athletics and was the Welsh 100m champion at the 12–14 age group after taking part in the Welsh games.

Brown's father, Steve, was captain of the Wales youth rugby team between 1976–1977.

Club career

Cardiff City

Brown was originally spotted by Liverpool scout Gwyn James but was unable to sign for the Merseyside club, due to a rule meaning youth players must sign with a team within one and a half hours of their home, so he recommended him to Cardiff City.[2] Having worked his way through the youth system at Cardiff, Brown made his first team debut against Welshpool Town in the FAW Premier Cup where he scored the only goal of the game with a free-kick to send the Bluebirds into the semi-final,[3] becoming the first Bridgend-born player to play for Cardiff since Billy Rees.[4] He made his league debut for Cardiff on 12 February 2008 against Coventry City when he came off the bench in the closing minutes and made a second appearance later in the season, coming on as a substitute again during a 3–1 win over Blackpool. At the end of the season he was rewarded with a one-year deal at the club, his first professional contract. Brown was the latest in a long line of recent youth players to have broken into the first team with the Bluebirds such as Joe Ledley, Chris Gunter, Darcy Blake and Aaron Ramsey.

Loan at Wrexham

Having not made an appearance for Cardiff during the 2008–09 season, Brown joined Wrexham on a two-month loan deal.[5][6] He made his debut on 29 November in a 2–1 win over Stevenage Borough, setting up Jefferson Louis to score Wrexham's first goal before being replaced after 88 minutes by Shaun Whalley.[7] He scored his first goal for the club in his very next game when he scored in the 90th minute to give Wrexham a 2–1 win over Kettering Town.[8] On Christmas Eve, Brown was involved in a road accident while travelling back to Wrexham. On his way back from South Wales, Brown's car overturned near Welshpool and he was forced to break one of the vehicles windows in order to escape. Brown kept the incident a secret from Wrexham manager Dean Saunders until after he had played against Barrow on boxing day two days later.[9]

Having been a first team regular during his initial loan spell, in early January it was confirmed that his loan deal had been extended by one month[10] and at the end of the January transfer window the two clubs agreed for the loan deal to last until the end of the season.[11] After the extended deal was agreed, manager Dean Saunders praised the impact Brown had at the side since arriving at the North Wales side.[12] In his next game for the club, Brown scored his fourth goal of the season when he scored direct from a free-kick as Wrexham won 3–2 over Grays Athletic.[13] In total, Brown made 27 appearances in all competitions for the club, scoring four times before returning to Cardiff, where he was released.[14]

Central Coast Mariners

Having spent time on trial at the club, in December 2009 he joined Australian A-League side Central Coast Mariners on a contract until the end of the 2009–10 season, with the option of a possible two-year deal.[15] However, he was released at the end of the season without making an appearance for the first team.

Southport

Following a six-month spell at the Somerset club, Brown signed for Southport, on 2 July 2011, ready for the 2011–12 season. He made his competitive club debut on 13 August 2011 on the first day of the 2011–12 season.[16] He signed for AFC Telford United on loan for the rest of the season on 31 January 2012.[17]

AFC Telford United

Following his release from Southport, Brown joined Telford United on a permanent deal. Jon announced to the fans of Telford that he was leaving them to move to Thailand to play over there. He played his last game at home against Wrexham in a 0–2 loss.

Hereford United

Following a successful trial, Brown signed a three-month contract with Hereford United on 25 July 2013.[18]

Abahani Limited Dhaka

In 2016, Brown joined Bangladeshi club Abahani Limited Dhaka and won the Bangladesh Football Premier League in the same year. He scored his first goal in the AFC Cup on 4 April 2017 against Mohun Bagan A.C. of India.[19]

USL Championship

Brown joined USL Championship team Oklahoma City Energy FC for the 2017 & 2018 season.[20] On 30 January 2019, Brown joined USL Championship side Hartford Athletic ahead of their inaugural 2019 season.[21] He rejoined Oklahoma City Energy FC on a loan on June 6, 2019 and transferred back to Oklahama for the 2020 season. [20]

International career

Brown has been a regular at various youth levels for Wales and was part of the under-19 squad that took part in the Milk Cup in 2007.[22] He made his under-21 debut against Malta U21 on 5 February 2008, scoring his first goal for the under-21 side on 31 March 2009 in a 5–1 win over Luxembourg.[23]

Honours

Club
Abahani Limited Dhaka

References
  1. "Jonathan Brown". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 2 November 2017.
  2. "City's fleet footed Brown is another young gun being fast-tracked for big things at City". South Wales Echo. 2 February 2008. Retrieved 16 February 2008.
  3. "Welshpool 0–1 Cardiff City". BBC Sport. 23 January 2008. Retrieved 13 February 2008.
  4. "Bridgend teen hopes to play in historic match". Glamorgan Gazette. 17 April 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2008.
  5. "Cardiff striker loaned to Wrexham". BBC Sport. 25 November 2008. Retrieved 25 November 2008.
  6. "Wrexham sign Wales under-21 ace Jonathan Brown". Daily Post. 25 November 2008. Archived from the original on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
  7. "Stevenage 1–2 Wrexham". BBC Sport. 29 November 2008. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
  8. "Wrexham 2–1 Kettering". BBC Sport. 6 December 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
  9. "Teen football star escapes horror crash". South Wales Echo. 27 December 2008. Retrieved 4 October 2009.
  10. "Wrexham extend loan stay of duo". BBC Sport. 2 January 2009. Retrieved 2 January 2009.
  11. "Saunders releases defensive duo". BBC Sport. 2 February 2009. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
  12. "Young Bluebird Brown proving Dragons hit". South Wales Echo. 7 February 2009. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
  13. "Wrexham 3–2 Grays". BBC Sport. 14 February 2009. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
  14. "Darren Purse is released by Cardiff City". South Wales Echo. 11 May 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  15. "Jonathan Brown signs for an Australian side". South Wales Echo. 11 December 2009. Retrieved 11 December 2009.
  16. "Southport 2–2 Lincoln City". BBC Sport. 13 August 2011. Retrieved 14 August 2011.
  17. "Another signing – and two departures". AFC Telford United. 31 January 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
  18. "Edwards & Brown sign". Hereford United F.C. 25 July 2013. Archived from the original on 29 July 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  19. "Mohun Bagan 3 - 1 Abahani Match report - 04/04/17 AFC Cup".
  20. "ENERGY FC WELCOME BACK JON BROWN". www.energyfc.com. 6 June 2020. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  21. https://www.hartfordathletic.com/roster-jonathanbrown
  22. "Wales call for City youngsters". South Wales Echo. 27 June 2007. Retrieved 13 February 2008.
  23. "Wales U21 5–1 Luxembourg U21". BBC Sport. 31 March 2009. Retrieved 31 March 2009.
  24. "Dhaka Abahani emerge first unbeaten champions of BPL".
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