John Brownlie

John Brownlie
Personal information
Full name	John Brownlie
Date of birth	11 March 1952 (age 72)
Place of birth	Caldercruix, Scotland
Position(s)	Defender
Youth career
	Pumpherston Juniors
Senior career*
Years	Team
1970–1978	Hibernian
1978–1982	Newcastle United
1982–1984	Middlesbrough
1984–1985	Hartlepool United
1985–1986	Berwick Rangers
1986–1987	Blyth Spartans
Total
International career
1971–1975	Scotland
1972	Scottish League XI
1972–1976	Scotland under-23
Managerial career
1988–1992	Cowdenbeath
1993–1994	Meadowbank Thistle
1997–1998	East Stirlingshire
2000–2003	Arbroath
2019	Berwick Rangers
2020-2022	East Stirlingshire(Assistant Manager)
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

John Brownlie (born 11 March 1952) is a Scottish former football player and coach, currently assistant manager of East Stirlingshire.

Brownlie played as a right back for Pumpherston Juniors, Hibernian, Newcastle United, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool United, Berwick Rangers, Blyth Spartans and the Scotland national team. Brownlie later managed Cowdenbeath, Meadowbank Thistle, East Stirlingshire, Arbroath and Berwick Rangers.

Playing career

Brownlie joined Hibernian from Pumpherston Juniors in 1969 and remained at Easter Road for nine years. He was part of the 1972 League Cup winning team and also earned runners-up medals in 1972 (Scottish Cup) and 1974 (League Cup).

He later played for Newcastle United, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool United, Berwick Rangers and Blyth Spartans. Following his retirement in 1986, he ran a hotel in the English North-East.^[4]

Coaching career

In 1988 Brownlie gained his first managerial appointment at Cowdenbeath and won promotion from the Scottish Second Division before his departure in 1992.

He subsequently joined Clyde, where he worked as assistant manager under Alex Smith. Just after Christmas in 1993, Brownlie was offered the chance to succeed Donald Park as Meadowbank Thistle manager.^[5] He signed a two-year deal but resigned after managing only five matches, having achieved a promotion at work which involved working on Saturdays.^[6]^[7]

Brownlie later managed East Stirlingshire from 1997 until 1998.

After a spell running the youth teams at Raith Rovers, Brownlie managed Arbroath between 2000 and 2003 where he led the club to promotion from the Scottish Second Division and kept them in the Scottish First Division for two seasons.

He later returned to East Stirlingshire as a coach, taking temporary charge of the first team in 2008 after the resignation of Gordon Wylde.

Brownlie was appointed manager of Berwick Rangers in May 2019 ahead of a relegation play-off,^[8] which they lost to Cove Rangers. He was replaced by Ian Little as Berwick manager after they were relegated to the Lowland League.^[9]

Brownlie rejoined East Stirlingshire as a coach in July 2020,^[10] and later stepped up to become assistant manager of the club after Andy Rodgers left on 4 January 2021.^[11]

Personal life

His son Paul was also a professional footballer.^[12]

Honours and achievements

Player

Hibernian

Scottish League Cup winners (1): 1972–73

Manager

Cowdenbeath

Scottish Second Division: promotion 1991–92

Arbroath

Scottish Second Division: promotion 2000–01

Career statistics

International

Scotland national team^[13]
Year	Apps	Goals
1971	1	0
1972	5	0
1973	—
1974	—
1975	1	0
Total	7	0

Managerial record

As of 18 May 2019^[update]

Team	From	To	Record
Team	From	To	G	W	D	L	Win %
Cowdenbeath	1988	1992
Meadowbank Thistle	1993	1994	5	1	3	1	020.00
East Stirlingshire	1997	1998
Arbroath	September 2000	October 2003	127	33	34	60	025.98
Berwick Rangers	May 2019	May 2019	3	0	0	3	000.00
Total			130	33	34	63	025.38

Arbroath statistics come from soccerbase website.
Cowdenbeath and East Stirlingshire statistics not currently available.

References

^ "John Brownlie". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
^ "John Brownlie". Londonhearts.com. London Hearts Supporters' Club. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
^ "John Brownlie". fitbastats.com. Retrieved 8 September 2015.
^ Lamming, Douglas (1987). A Scottish Soccer Internationalists Who's Who, 1872–1986 (Hardback). Hutton Press. ISBN 0-907033-47-4. ().
^ "Brownlie in the Thistle hot seat". The Herald. 30 December 1993. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
^ "No headline". The Herald. 1 February 1994. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
^ "No headline". The Herald. 3 February 1994. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
^ "Berwick Rangers: John Brownlie & Ian Little replace manager Johnny Harvey". BBC Sport. 2 May 2019. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
^ Goldthorp, Craig (20 June 2019). "Berwick Rangers chairman John Bell: Lowland League will be tough". Berwickshire News. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
^ "Hibs legend John Brownlie is back in football as a coach with Lowland League side East Stirlingshire". theedinburghreporter.co.uk. 22 July 2020. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
^ "East Stirlingshire FC". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
^ "Sons and Daughters". Bob Dunning. Archived from the original on 31 August 2010. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
^ John Brownlie at the Scottish Football Association