UNI GAMES TO THREE LIONS...
ALEX BROWN thought he might just play football for his Uni side this season – it finished with the Sheffield FC defender making his England C debut. “To say I didn’t really expect to be here,” Brown reflects, in England C’s Dublin hotel. “It’s been good for me. You look at some of the clubs the other lads play for – Orient, Dagenheam, all in the National League and I’m three leagues below. So it’s good to get the recognition. “When I got the call I didn’t know what to expect because I’ve never had anything like this. It’s a bit daunting at first because some of the lads know each other and play against each other and I’m a bit further down. But once you get to know them, none are big time and they welcome you in.” It shows the season that the 19year-old has had for Step 4 Club. Having left Sheffield United last summer, Brown thought his ten years at the Blades would lead to a few trials. He personally wrote to every single one. No one replied. So he set his sights on the National League. Still his emails went unanswered. Then he tried clubs in the Northern Premier League. Enrolling for a Sports Science degree at Sheffield Hallam, he considered packing it all in and just playing for one of the university sides. But he knew Dean Bamford at Hallam FC and was offered a chance in the Northern Counties East League a week before the season alongside studying. “You do your education through your scholarship,” Brown says. “Some lads don’t take it seriously but I knew football could be like it has been and, at some point, I might need to rely on it. So I applied for Uni and thought I’d play for the team – a lad got signed by Burnley from their team so they are opportunities. “I played ten games for Hallam FC. Going from academy football to that was a massive culture shock. At that level there’s no money at all, it doesn’t cover petrol or anything, you’re just playing because you love football. You have to drive yourself to away matches. “Then Mark Shaw, who I knew from Sheffield United, came in from Sheffield for me at the start of October.” A tough run of defeats saw Shaw lose his job before Chris Dolby took over to steer them away from relegation. What Brown didn’t know was Paul Fairclough’s England C scouts had spotted his potential and he was placed on the contingency squad before getting a call-up two days before the squad flew out to Ireland to replace Chester’s James Jones. Brown performed well when he came on from the bench and he believes Non-League football has improved his game no end. “It’s a culture shock,” Brown says. “When you make a tackle and someone gets around you. In academy football it’s all nice, you play football – you have it, we have it. There’s three points to play for but it doesn’t really matter where you finish. “Now clubs get relegated, budgets get cut – it means something. Fans give you stick, which takes a bit of getting used to. You’re that close to them in Non-League they can reach out and touch you type of thing. “It’s character-building. Lads in the changing room give you stick if you don’t do the right things so it makes you grow up quick. It sounds stupid, but you don’t have to manage games in academy football. Things like walking to get a throw-in or slowing free-kicks down when you’re winning – you don’t learn that playing academy football. “You’re that used to playing quick but it’s a bit different when three points are on the line.” England C has whetted his appetite for more. “It makes you want to play with and against players like this every week,” he says. “It makes you a better player because you have to make decisions quicker. When I got the call I thought there might be competition between the lads because people are trying to progress themselves. It’s not like that at all. It’s been great.”