Brown was born in 1935 in Lewes, Sussex,[1] where he attended the local secondary modern school.[3] He played football for Lewes St Mary's and represented East Sussex at schoolboy level;[2] it was while playing schools football that he was spotted by Brighton & Hove Albion manager Don Welsh. After a trial, he was taken onto the club's ground staff in 1951 and signed professional forms on his 17th birthday in September 1952.[3] National Service obligations[4] and inability to dislodge captain Ken Whitfield from the centre-half position meant Brown did not make his senior debut until 9 November 1957, in a Third Division South match against Northampton Town.[2] Albion won 4–2, and "the critics accorded him a fair share of the credit for ... their first victory at Northampton for 11 years",[5] but he returned to the reserves for the next match.[3] Whitfield was reported to have asked for a transfer the following month,[6] but this came to nothing, and Brown appeared just twice more for Albion's first team before moving on after seven years with the club.[3]
On 17 September 1958, Don Welsh signed Brown for a second time, for Third Division club Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic.[3] The following day, Brighton signed his brother Alan, also a centre half.[7] Brown impressed immediately for Bournemouth: on his debut, the People described him as "a shining light [who] with the coolness of a veteran ... not only kept Higham in check but maintained complete command of the middle".[8] He went on to play 65 Third Division matches for Bournemouth before joining Poole Town of the Southern League in 1962.[2]
He remained at Poole for several years, and was for a long time associated with nearby Hamworthy United, as player, manager and physiotherapist. After his death, the Hamworthy club set up a trust fund to raise money to build a stand in his memory, and since then have held an annual Irvin Brown Day to raise funds for the club.[9]
Brown was one of six brothers who all played football; two younger brothers, Alan and Stan, played at Football League level.[2] He married Sheila Walter in 1956.[10] By the time he signed for Bournemouth, the couple had a daughter.[3] After giving up full-time football, he remained in the Poole, Dorset, area where he worked as a carpenter[2] and where he died in 2005 at the age of 70.[1]
