Barrow have moved swiftly to replace Mark Cooper by appointing Phil Brown as manager for the rest of the season.
Having managed over 500 games across all four divisions in England, Brown arrives with a wealth of experience to call upon during The Bluebirds’ League Two run-in.
He will be assisted by Neil McDonald, who returns to The Dunes Hotel Stadium after playing a key role in the club’s EFL survival last season during a spell working alongside Rob Kelly.
A defender in his playing days, the South Shields born Brown made over 600 league appearances during a career that saw him represent Hartlepool United, Halifax Town, Bolton Wanderers and Blackpool.
He served as assistant to Sam Allardyce at both Blackpool and Bolton Wanderers before stepping up to management himself for the first time in the summer of 2005 when he was appointed boss of Derby County.
However, it was his spell in charge at Hull City which really established Brown as a boss as he led The Tigers to a glorious promotion to the Premier League in 2007/08 before defying the odds to keep them in the top flight the following season.
During his first season in the Premier League Brown’s Hull side found themselves joint top of the Premier League after only one defeat in their opening nine games.
Despite their early success, the Tigers only managed two wins from the remainder of the season.
During this difficult run was a 5-1 away defeat to Manchester City, who were in the early days of Sheikh Mansour’s stewardship.
It was this game – which saw Hull 4-0 down at half-time – that lives long in the memory of football fans across the country.
Brown took the unusual step of conducting his half-time team talk on the pitch, in full view of the watching supporters and global TV audiences.
After a year in charge at Preston North End, Brown then put down roots with Southend United where he successfully delivered promotion from League Two in his second full season at the helm.
Following five years with The Shrimpers, Brown took charge for a stint at Swindon Town before experiencing managerial life abroad when he took on the challenge at Indian Super League outfit Hyderabad.
However, he returned to England to retake the reins at Southend who were six points adrift of safety at the base of League Two. Brown oversaw two victories and a run of six games undefeated at the end of the campaign, but it wasn’t quite enough to see them pull off a remarkable escape.
Brown and McDonald met with The Bluebirds’ coaching staff at the training ground this morning and will be in the dugout for the first time for the game at Leyton Orient this weekend.
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