David "Davey" Brown (November 18, 1898 – September 17, 1970) was an American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

forward. He spent most of his career playing for teams in New Jersey and New York, gaining his greatest fame with the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

. He is a member of the

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Professional career

Brown began his professional career with Ford before moving to West Hudson A.A. for the 1917–1918

National Association Foot Ball League The National Association Football League (also spelled ''National Association Foot Ball League'') (NAFBL) was a semi-professional U.S. association football, soccer league which operated between 1895 and 1898. The league was reconstituted in 1906 ...

(NAFBL) season. When West Hudson withdrew from the NAFBL at the end of the season, Brown moved to Paterson F.C. where he spent the next two seasons. At the end of the 1919–1920 season, Paterson withdrew from the league despite finishing in the top half of the standings each season. Brown then moved to Erie A.A. for the 1920–1921 NAFBL season. At the end of that season, Erie A.A. switched to the newly established American Soccer League (ASL) and changed its name to Harrison Soccer Club (S.C.). In various publications the team was also known as Harrison S.C. and Harrison Field Club (F.C.). Regardless of the name, Brown remained with this team through the end of the 1922–1923 season. He then spent a single season with the Newark Skeeters in the Skeeters’ first season in the ASL. In 1924, Brown moved to the

where he gained his greatest fame three years later. In the 1926–1927 season, he scored fifty-two goals in thirty-eight games, one of the most productive seasons by any player in an American outdoor league. However, that season was an anomaly. While Brown was a consistent goal scorer, he more typically would score between eleven and twenty-eight goals a season. With the onset of the Soccer War in 1928, Brown's career becomes erratic. When the Giants were suspended by the ASL, Brown moved to the Brooklyn Wanderers for three games. However, he then rejoined the Giants, when they began playing in the newly established Eastern Professional Soccer League. In 1930, the Giants rejoined the ASL, but under new ownership and a new name, the

New York Soccer Club New York Soccer Club was the name of a New York soccer team that, in 1930, played briefly in the American Soccer League. In 1923, New York fur merchant Maurice Vandeweghe - the father and grandfather of later basketball stars Ernie and Kiki Van ...

. New York SC folded at the end of the 1930 fall season and Brown moved to the second New York Giants. When the New York Giants had become the

, Charles Stoneman, owner of both the ASL New York Nationals and the American baseball team

decided to rename his Nationals club the Giants. By that time the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

and the Soccer Wars had begun to decimate the American Soccer League. Brown played out the 1931 season with the Giants but moved to the Brooklyn F.C. in 1932. The ASL collapsed in 1933 to be replaced by the second, and unrelated, American Soccer League. Brooklyn SC joined the second ASL but failed twelve games into the season. Brooklyn Celtic then joined the league, absorbing most of Brooklyn F.C.'s players as well as the team's record. Brown remained with Celtic until his retirement in 1935. In addition to his regular teams, Brown served as a guest player twice, in 1919 and in 1920. In 1919,

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Until its closure in 2003, it was one of the world's largest steel-producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its success ...

signed Brown as a guest player during the team's Scandinavian tour. Bethlehem went 7-2-5 during that tour. Then St. Louis took Brown along for their 1920 European tour. St. Louis went 6–2–6.

National team

Brown earned three

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with the U.S. national team in 1925 and 1926. All three games came against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. In those three games, Canada won the first game, by a 1–0 score. The U.S. won the next two games, each with a 6–1 score. Brown got two goals in both wins. He was later injured which prevented him from participating in the

1930 FIFA World Cup The 1930 FIFA World Cup was the inaugural FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in Uruguay from 13 to 30 July 1930. FIFA, ...

, at which the U.S. placed third. In 1951, Brown was inducted into the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Davey 1898 births 1970 deaths People from East Newark, New Jersey Soccer players from Kearny, New Jersey American men's soccer players American Soccer League (1921–1933) players American Soccer League (1933–1983) players Brooklyn F.C. (New York) players Brooklyn Celtic (1933–1935) players Brooklyn Wanderers (1922–1931) players Harrison S.C. players National Association Football League players National Soccer Hall of Fame members Newark Skeeters players New York Giants (soccer) players New York Giants (soccer, 1930–1932) players New York Soccer Club players Paterson F.C. players United States men's international soccer players West Hudson A.A. players Men's association football forwards