Wesley Michael "Wes" Brown (born 13 October 1979) is an English football player who plays as a defender for Manchester United. He regularly plays in the right-back and centre-back positions.

Having joined the youth team in 1996, Brown has spent his entire career at Manchester United. He made his senior debut in 1998 and became a regular first team player in the 1998–1999 season, in which he was part of the club's Treble winning team. After a year-long hiatus due to injury, Brown became a regular fixture in the first team from 2000 onwards. Over the next eight years he won numerous honours, including four more Premier League titles, an FA Cup, a League Cup, and another Champions League. Manager Alex Ferguson has stated that Brown is "without question the best natural defender this club has had for years".[4]

Brown earned his first England cap in 1999 and was selected to play at the 2002 World Cup. He played in the 2008 European Championships qualifiers but England failed to progress to the final tournament. He scored his first international goal in 2008 against the Czech Republic. Brown announced his retirement from international football on 8 August 2010, just a day after being recalled to the England squad by Fabio Capello.

Club career

Manchester United

Early career

Born in Longsight, Manchester, Brown began his serious football career as a schoolboy playing for the Burnage High School and Fletcher Moss Rangers, a Greater Manchester youth side, and was a former student of the Lilleshall Hall FA School of Excellence, as well as spending time at Manchester United's football Academy, which he joined at the age of 12.[5] Brown showed talent and maturity at an early age, signing full professional terms with boyhood club Manchester United on 4 November 1996 at the age of 17.

Brown went on to success with the reserve and youth sides, winning the FA Youth Cup and a Lancashire Division One medal with the reserves. He also added two Jimmy Murphy (Young Player of the Year) awards to his collection, becoming only the second player to receive the award for a second time (the other being Ryan Giggs).[citation needed]

Breakthrough to the first-team

On 4 May 1998, Brown made his full first team Premiership debut against Leeds United, coming on as a substitute. His breakthrough would occur the next year, the 1998–99 season, where he made several first-team appearances at right-back as well as his more natural position of centre-back. The season could not have gone any better for Brown, as United completed The Treble, winning the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League.

Brown suffered the first of what would be a string of injuries while training for the 1999–2000 campaign. As a result, he did not play a single competitive game all season, while United went on to seal their sixth Premier League title in eight seasons.

First-team regular

His strong comeback the following year prompted praise from all corners, with club manager Alex Ferguson making waves by proclaiming Brown to be Manchester United's most talented defender.[4]

Brown after the match against FC Barcelona in April 2008

A fine 2000–01 campaign was followed by another solid year in 2001–02. His reputation grew even greater during the 2002–03 season, but again, his performances were marred by injury. Brown tore a knee ligament on the final day of the season, and did not return until midway through the 2003–04 season. Brown finished the season in good form, notably giving an imperious, man-of-the-match performance in the FA Cup semi-final win over Arsenal. It was after this fine display that Ferguson re-iterated his confidence in Brown's abilities.[6]

Brown was a member of the side that won the FA Cup that year, against Millwall at Cardiff, and later went on to collect runners-up medals in the 2005 and 2007 Finals.

2007–08

After nearly three years without scoring a Premier League goal for United, Brown scored on 23 March 2008 against Liverpool, the first in a 3–0 win.[7]

After initially rejecting a new contract offer in December 2007,[8] Brown signed a new five-year contract along with fellow defender Rio Ferdinand and midfielder Michael Carrick in April 2008, which will keep him at Old Trafford until 2013 and ended any transfer speculation.[9]

2008–09

On 4 October 2008, Brown scored only the fourth goal of his Manchester United career when he headed in Wayne Rooney's cross in United's 2–0 win away to Blackburn Rovers. The goal was controversial, however, as Blackburn's players believed that Nemanja Vidić had impeded their goalkeeper, Jason Brown, allowing Brown to head in at the far post.

Brown was ruled out of first team action for around five weeks in November 2008, following an exploratory ankle operation.[10] Brown made his first start in eight months away against Hull on 24 May 2009.

2009–10

He started the following season, featuring throughout August in the league, but between September and October only appeared in United's Carling Cup campaign, before injury to both Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic saw Wes return to Premier League action as he partnered Jonny Evans in central defence against Blackburn, and both men produced an assured and professional display. This was Brown's first Premier League start since the 2–1 victory against Arsenal, at the end of August.

International career

Brown has represented England at international level making 23 appearances since making his debut in 1999, he was part of the England squads at the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Japan.

Brown made his debut in 1999 against Hungary and booked a place in Sven-Goran Eriksson's squad for 2002 FIFA World Cup, although he spent his time on the bench.[4]

Wes Brown performed consistently well in the 2005–2006 season which led to his recall to the England squad for the friendly game against Uruguay. Although he played no part in this fixture he hoped to make it into the final England squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but he was not selected.

He was once again recalled to the England squad by coach Steve McClaren, and played in defeat of Andorra in the 2008 European Championships qualifiers on 2 September, partnering John Terry at the heart of the England defence, in place of injured Manchester United team mate Rio Ferdinand. He replaced Terry in a friendly against Brazil on 1 June 2007, however he slipped up with his first touch of the ball, and nearly scored an own goal.

Fabio Capello era

Fabio Capello named him as a starter in both of his first two games in charge of the national team, against Switzerland[11] and France.[12]He also played 56 minutes in England's 2–0 win over the United States on May 28 2008.

Brown scored his sole senior international goal in a friendly against the Czech Republic on 20 August 2008 at Wembley Stadium, heading in a David Beckham corner in first-half injury time.[13]

Brown made three appearances for England in their qualification for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in wins over Croatia (4–1), Kazakhstan (5–1) and Belarus (3–1).

Brown was called up for the England squad to face Slovenia in a friendly match on September 5 2009, but was an unused substitute. He was then called up for a friendly against Brazil to be played Khalifa International Stadium in Qatar, where he played the full 90 minutes.

Brown also played in England’s 3-1 win over Egypt on 3 March 2010. He did not, however, make the England squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa after an injury hit season.

On 8 August 2010, Brown retired from international football just a day after being selected for the upcoming friendly against Hungary.[14]

Personal life

Brown is married to Leanne Wassell, with whom he lives in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, with their two daughters, Halle and Lilia. His father, Bancroft Brown, died in February 2008. His half-sister, Claire Fallows,[15][16] died on 19 July 2008 during pregnancy.[17] Brown's younger brother Reece, who has been at the Manchester United Academy since age 9[18], also plays at centre-back and is an England U19 international.