MK Dons are pleased to announce that Steve Brown has joined the Academy as the Elite Head of Academy Coaching.
Brown will work with the Under-8s to Under-16s coaches to aid in their development, focusing on areas such as their on-pitch coaching skills and leadership.
He will also look to establish a club-specific coaching competency framework as well as create a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme for the coaches in the Academy.
Brown brings with him a wealth of experience both as a player and a coach. He totalled over 600 appearances for teams such as Northampton Town and Wycombe Wanderers before working for the latter as assistant manager to John Gorman – a familiar and popular figure at Stadium MK.
He also spent time as Paul Lambert’s assistant at Adams Park before joining Queens Park Rangers as their Academy manager. Brown’s career then took him to Everton as a part-time national scout while he also spent time as the sports marketing recruiter for Adidas.
He returned to full-time work as an auditor for Double Pass, during which time he audited a number of clubs as part of the EPPP programme. Brown then took up a role with The Football Association and played a key role in the Young Lions’ success last year – two World Cups, one European Championship and a triumph at the Toulon Tournament.
Speaking to mkdons.com, Brown expressed his excitement to begin working with the Dons and continuing the good work already being done in the Academy.
“This is a great Football Club and when the opportunity arose to be a part of that, I was never going to turn it down,” he told mkdons.com.
“This Club has created some good people and some good players over the years and the pathway at this Club is very much alive – that’s fantastic and it excites me because I’ve always had a huge passion for youth development.
“It’s a Club I’m familiar with – I used to come and watch a lot of the games during John Gorman’s time here – and it’s a Club I’ve always liked. There is something totally different here – different in how we developed players and the football that the young players play.
“Importantly, too, this place is full of good people. The welcome I have had is overwhelming and it is everything I thought it was.”
On his role, Brown said: “It’s going to be a great challenge for me and I am looking forward to it.
“My role is to help develop the coaches. Can I stimulate them to think differently, to see things differently and to challenge themselves? There are a lot of voracious learners here and I’ve already had many positive conversations about how we can take things forward.
“Creating the CPD programme for the coaches also excites me in terms of what I can bring to that, especially with some of the contacts I’ve made from my time at The FA.
“I’m also looking forward to helping create a club-specific coaching competency framework so that we know what our future coaches look like when we go to recruit them and we also have a framework for them to work to when they are here. It’s important to identify what qualities our coaches need and how we can help them get there.”
Interim Academy Manager Simon Dwight said of Brown’s appointment: “Steve is a fantastic gentleman – a warm, welcoming and friendly person.
“He is thoughtful, he asks a lot of questions and he is very aligned with our beliefs in terms of developing players and staff members – in the conversations that Steve and I had in the weeks leading up to his appointment, there was a shared vision and understanding of the values which make the philosophy of this Academy and Football Club so unique.
“We want to see players from our Academy getting through to the first team regularly and moving forwards with the Football Club as we aim to become a Premier League club. The coaches need to have that as a vision as well, in order to enable these players to maximise their full potential.”
