So that's what happened to our former youth coach

[QPR Report]

Steve Brown - axed a year ago

Mirror
Liverpool set to sign reality TV show winner
Published 22:45 20/05/10 By Matt Butler

Liverpool's first signing of the close season could be a Vietnamese reality TV show winner.

The winner of talent show Vietnam Soccer Prince will be awarded a 12-month contract at Anfield following next week's final.

The show is made by the production company that makes Britain's Got Talent - and features ex-Wycombe and Northampton midfielder Steve Brown as the programme's Simon Cowell.

Brown has put the kids through their paces on the training pitch to test skills such as speed, co-ordination, teamwork and decision making, before telling unlucky contestants every week: "It's a no."


He said: "I am the show's Simon Cowell - I've been the one to tell the kids they weren't good enough.

"But he seems a lot tougher than me. Telling the kids they weren't good enough was a killer. I'd have to lock myself in a room for a couple of hours after filming, it really affected me.

"The series has lasted 10 weeks and at the beginning it was easy to let some of them go. But then when you get seven or eight weeks into it, you get attached to them."

Liverpool's Under-16 side have already travelled to Vietnam to play against some of the prospects, aged between 16 and 19.

A total of 2000 boys were whittled down to 20 to take part in the 10-week series. And now six remain in the battle for top honours, with the final due to air Saturday week.

The runner-up will get a one-year deal at Sheffield United.

Brown, who was youth coach at QPR until last year, added: "Four or five of them stood out from the start. Some of the kids over there have got what it takes.

"I look at them and think 'I have no doubt you will be able to handle the Liverpool academy'.

"The aim is not just to send someone there for 12 months, I'd like to see whoever wins to do enough to stay in the academy system at Liverpool."
www.mirrorfootball.co.uk/news/Transfer-news-Liverpool-set-to-sign-Vietnamese-reality-TV-show-winner-article432407.html

[QPR Report]

And more

Football League


WHERE ARE THEY NOW STEVE BROWN
Posted on: 25.05.2010
WHERE ARE THEY NOW STEVE BROWN

Steve Brown is Vietnam's version of Simon Cowell.

The former Northampton Town and Wycombe Wanderers midfielder is hosting a Vietnamese reality TV show which aims to find a football star of the future.

The winner will spend a year at Liverpool's Academy, with the runner-up going to Sheffield United.

Brown, who went into youth coaching after finishing his playing career at Adams Park, finds it tough telling players: "It's a no from me."

He said: "I've been the one to tell the kids they weren't good enough, which was a killer. I'd have to lock myself in a room for a couple of hours after filming, it really affected me.

"The series has lasted ten weeks. At the beginning it was easy to let some of them go. But then when it got to seven or eight weeks, you get attached to them."

Brown went into coaching after John Gregory, then his boss at Wycombe, told him he had the right attributes.

From then he studied for his UEFA badges then took up a post at Queens Park Rangers, which he held until April 2009.

It took a chance meeting with a member of the League Managers' Association who got Brown the TV gig fronting Vietnam Soccer Prince.

He added: "It has been a lot of fun doing the show. I get stopped in the street because I am recognised from the show.

"I'm back over for the final, and I have a pretty good idea who is going to win it out of the final six."

During his time in Vietnam, Brown found out about a vacancy at the Indonesian Football Association coaching the Under-16 national side for two years, which he starts in July.

Brown went on: "This is a wonderful opportunity. I am pretty much working from a blank slate.

"There is almost no infrastructure at the moment and it is up to me to find the best kids and make sure they stay in the system right up until they are eligible for the senior team.

"The first thing is to get a team together for the Asian Championships in Uzbekistan in October."

Brown has had to overcome some hurdles since getting the job - including house-hunting from halfway across the world.

He added: "My wife and two girls are going over with me and we don't want to live in an apartment.

"But it is very hard to find a house without a swimming pool! We don't want a pool because the girls are so young. But every house seems to have one."


qprreport.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=13751&page=1

[QPR Report]

Year ago... May 2009

No Longer at QPR: Youth Team Manager, Steve Brown
There has, at least as of now, been no Official QPR announcement on its news page, regarding the departure of Youth Team Coach Steve Brown; the Updated QPR Staff Directory no longer lists Brown as being with the club. The sole youth representative listed is: "Center of Excellence Manager Keith Ryan,". QPR


See the Updated Staff Directory

Fill in the Missing Name!

Frst Team Staff
Caretaker First Team Coach - Gareth Ainsworth
Performance Manager - John Harbin
Coach - David Rouse
Kit Man - Gary Doyle
Physiotherapist - Paul Hunter
Assistant Physiotherapist - Shane Annun

Youth
??
Centre of Excellence Manager - Keith Ryan

Box Office
Box Office Manager - Jenny Elliott [e-mail]

qprreport.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&thread=4001
[- Note: There were reports in February that Brown had been axed, but until now, Brown had continued to be listed on the QPR Staff Director.]

[Macmoish]

UPDATE...

Football League - Where are they now - Steve Brown

After making nearly 550 Football League appearances for Northampton Town and Wycombe Wanderers, the curtain finally came down on Steve Brown's playing career in 2004.

The midfielder began his career with Northampton. He left in 1985 to join Irthlingborough Diamonds, one half of the predecessors to the modern day Rushden and Diamonds.

Brown rejoined Northampton in July 1989, and was snapped up by Martin O'Neill's Wycombe Wanderers in 1994. He became a fans' favourite during ten years at Adams Park, and was part of the team that reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup in 2001.

All good things come to an end though, and Brown started looking for a new challenge seven years ago.

"Coaching is something I had always wanted to do, and towards the end of my career I spent a lot of time doing my badges. I had already worked with Wycombe's Under-16s on a voluntary basis."

Brown was equipped with the tools to take on a new challenge in the game, but didn't rush into his next footballing chapter.

"After I retired I had six months out. Tony Adams then left Wycombe and when John Gorman got the job he asked me to come back.

"I learnt a lot off John, he was a fantastic coach and manager. He has enough knowledge to be managing in his own right having worked with the likes of Glenn Hoddle."

Brown remained on the Wanderers' coaching staff following Gorman's departure in 2006, it wasn't too long though before he gained an unwanted taste of the ruthless side of the game.

"If I had known that the following season I would be leaving the club I would have left with John and come to Northampton.

"I was made to feel I was a part of the future working alongside Paul Lambert and the rest of the staff. I thought it was going to be long-term, I would never have believed anybody if they said to me after the Carling Cup semi-final against Chelsea I would be made redundant."

As one door closed another opened, it wasn't long before Steve received a call from John Gregory.

"He offered me the chance to become Head of Youth and Under-18s coach at Queens Park Rangers. Six or seven of the lads I worked with turned professional, and five are still on the books at QPR. They keep in touch and it is nice to be appreciated after two years out of the game."

Whilst no longer involved in the sharp end of football, Brown has clocked up the air miles maintaining links with the game. And not many can say they have starred in a reality TV show!

Steve was a coach on Vietnam's 'Soccer Prince' series, the winner earning a place at Liverpool's Academy. That brought Brown to the attention of the Indonesian Football Association and a spell working with their Under-16s, that's when the cruel nature of football struck again.

"Some things in the set-up I frowned upon and cracks started to appear. I tried to remember that I wasn't in England anymore and things were done differently. When money that was owed to me wasn't paid I came back. The phone calls became less and less, so I decided to stay here."

Brown certainly isn't resting on his laurels back in England, he now combines the contrasting roles of scouting for both Adidas and Everton

"I love both jobs and if either needed me to become full-time I would love it. With Adidas we are trying to find the next David Beckham. It's about the brand, we are not competing with other clubs but other sport companies. It is about getting the kids into the brand early and educating them about what we expect from them.

"Rarely are you going to identify talent before anybody else. Sometimes you see a player and don't necessarily think he would be right for Adidas, but he could become a Premier League footballer for Everton."

So does a full-time return to the game beckon for Steve?

"I'm itching to get back, but reluctant to get involved in a club where the structure isn't right. I even went off and did a teaching qualification, and I am doing a second one which will make me fully qualified so I can step away if I want.

"I have only done that because I don't think football is a great environment at the moment. When I look at the amount of managers being sacked, I ask myself do I want to be involved in that? I'd work in an academy tomorrow, but if I cannot do that I want to go out scouting and recruiting."

www.football-league.co.uk/features/20110203/where-are-they-now-steve-brown_2293307_2284077