Former Scotland and Aberdeen manager Craig Brown dies aged 82

The legendary Scottish football figure of Craig Brown has died at the age of 82 after a lengthy illness. Brown started out his work as a manager at Clyde before moving into the Scotland National team coaching set-up with the Under-21 side.

Brown then led the Scottish national team to the European Championships in England in 1996 as well as the World Cup two years later.

A statement from Brown’s family reads: “Craig died peacefully today after a short illness in University Hospital, Ayr, surrounded by close family members. The family wish to express their deep appreciation of the outstanding care and attention provided by hospital staff and the countless messages of support and sympathy from friends and colleagues. At this particularly sad time the family now requests that their privacy is respected during the grieving process.”

The last manager to take Scotland to a World Cup

Brown remains the last manger to have led the Scotland men’s national team at a World Cup finals, 25 years ago at France 98. They had the honour of kicking off the tournament in Paris against favourites and eventual runners-up Brazil. The Scots held the mighty South Americans at 1-1 for most of the game but the brilliance of Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Cafu and their litany of world class stars proved too much and they eventually lost 2-1.

A 1-1 draw with Norway set them up with a shot at reaching the knockout stages for the first time ever but losing 3-0 to Morocco, combined with the Norwegians also beating Brazil, ended their tournament at the group stage. Brown managed his country for eight years between 1993 and 2001 and oversaw the 1-0 win for the Scots over England in 1999 - the last European Championship qualifier to be played at the old Wembley Stadium.

After Scotland he had a spell in charge of Preston North End from 2002 to 2004 before stepping away from management. At the age of 69 he returned to the dugout with Motherwell where he led them to a top six finish before taking over at Aberdeen. The Dons had been struggling for the past two seasons before the veteran gaffer steadied the ship at Pittodrie and set them up for the success that they would have under successor Derek McInnes.

Brown, who was awarded a CBE in 1999, left management permanently in 2013 and took up a role as a director behind the scenes at Aberdeen. He was never pleased to be known as the last Scotland boss to lead them at a World Cup and had spoken about his desire to see Steve Clarke finally take that moniquer away from him. His legacy in football will be that as a true legend of the Scottish game.