A utility player, who could play either at centre-half or centre-forward, Laurie Brown perhaps suffered by not being an expert in one position or the other.
Starting off in his native North-East with Darlington, he moved down the country via Northampton Town to Arsenal, where he was brought in as a forward in 1961, but they turned him into a central defender, as only Arsenal could. Played over 100 matches for the Highbury club, before he was ousted from his position by Ian Ure and Tottenham spent £40,000 on him in early 1964 to bring him to White Hart Lane.
Ironically, his first game for Spurs was against Arsenal, with his new club beating his old club 3-1 the day after he signed for Tottenham.
A solid enough player, but he was not a great degree better than the defenders Spurs already had and in Maurice Norman and then Mike England, he came to be expendable, so Spurs let him move on to Norwich City after eighteen months, where he became the Canaries' captain.
Finished his playing days at Bradford Park Avenue, where he became player/manager; enjoying the role despite the club being relegated from the Football League, he then took on a similar post at Altrincham from August 1969 until September 1970, when he resigned. Also managed later at King's Lynn (1969-70) and Stockton (1970-71).
Laurie Brown died on 30th September 1998.