Mike Brown

Who is Mike Brown?

Mike Brown came through the Harlequins academy and played his first professional game in 2005 when he was 20 years old.

Mike played in 351 matches for Harlequins and has 72 caps for England. He is widely considered to be one of the best defensive fullbacks in the game during his fifteen years at Quins.

His competitive and combative nature on the field gave him the nickname of “Mr Angry”. But there’s more to Mike Brown than that!

Mike played his first match for a Harlequins senior team in 2005 when he was in their academy. This was the year that Harlequins had been relegated from the top division.

Mike was a key player in Quins’ run to their Premiership title in 2012. He was a rock in defence, solid under the high ball, and showed a new turn of speed in attack.

Brown was ambitious and always willing to learn. He consulted with renowned sprint specialist Margot Wells to improve his speed.

His coach was also a big influence. After the Bloodgate events of 2009 led to coach Dean Richard’s departure, Conor O’Shea came in as the new coach.

O’Shea’s playing career was as a stylish attacking fullback with London Irish and for Ireland. Brown credits O’Shea for helping his general full-back play.

The former England forward Dean Richards was coach at Harlequins when he gave Mike Brown his debut.

When Richards heard that Brown has been released from Quins in 2020, he swooped in with a contract offer from Newcastle Falcons.

Mike retired in 2021 to focus on his studies in elite sports performance. In December 2022 Mike was accepted onto the FA’s Leadership of Talent Identification & Development in Football course.

Mike came out of retirement in January 2023 to sign a short term contract with Leicester Tigers.