George Brown

George was born in England but raised in Troon, Scotland. He emigrated to the United States in 1948 and resided in Greenwich, Connecticut, where he played on the Greenwich High School team, graduating in 1952.

George later coached Greenwich High School to a County Championship in 1955, the same year in which he became a U.S. citizen. His career in organized soccer started in 1950 when at the age of 15, he played for Greenport United in the Connecticut State Amateur League winning the league championship in 1951. In 1952, at age 17, George signed with the New York Americans of the American Soccer League (ASL) but was quickly released by the club over the team's concern that he might be injured due to his size and weight. At the time he was 5'4" tall and weighed about 140 pounds. The following season, 1953, he signed with the German Hungarians of the German American Soccer League (GASL) where he played the next three seasons during which the German Hungarians won three consecutive league championships as well as the 1956 N.Y. State Cup. He later refused to re-sign with the N.Y. Americans. With the German Hungarians his inside right was future Hall of Famer John Souza. George was voted by the fans as Most Valuable Player in 1953 and was named to the GASL All Star Team, playing against foreign teams such as Rot Weiss Essen, Sochaux and Nurnberg F.C. In 1957 he returned to the ASL with the Polish Falcons of Elizabeth, N.J. where he was selected several times for the ASL All Star Team, playing against foreign teams such as Hapoel Tel Aviv, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Norkopping and First Vienna F.C. During his first season he suffered an ACL injury to his left knee from which he never fully recovered. In 1957 he represented the United States in World Cup Qualifier against Mexico, and in that same year he was top goal scorer in the ASL with a total of 13 goals.  He was a member of the U.S. team which won the Bronze Medal in the 1959 Pan American Games but played very little due to his knee injury. From 1958 to 1960 George served in the U.S. Army where he was a guest player with the Chicago Red Lions. In 1960 he entered the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut on a soccer scholarship but was banned from playing due to an archaic NCAA rule prohibiting amateurs who had played on teams fielding professionals. He earned his scholarship coaching Freshman Soccer and Varsity Tennis and continued playing with the Polish Falcons until 1963. After his playing days were over, while working with Exxon, he coached youth teams throughout the United States and Canada and in the Middle East. In 1993 his girls’ team at Cabot High School in Nova Scotia, Canada won the Provincial Championship. George and his father, who was inducted in 1986, are unique in that they are the only father and son inducted into the Hall of Fame as players. He was also inducted into the Connecticut Soccer Hall of Fame in 2002. George currently serves on the Hall of Fame's Board of Directors.

Where Are They Now: George, part of the only father-son tandem in the Hall of Fame, has a lot to say about U.S. soccer history, the National Soccer Hall of Fame, and playing soccer around the world. more>

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