A life in pictures: Former Scotland and Aberdeen boss Craig Brown

Craig Brown remains the last manager to guide the Scotland men’s national team to a World Cup.

It was the highlight of a long and varied career.

His playing days were curtailed by a serious knee injury. He started his career at Rangers but moved to Dundee on a permanent basis following a spell on loan in 1961.

He was part of the Dens Park team that were crowned Scottish champions the following year.

A spell at Falkirk was to follow before he was released in 1967. He signed for Stranraer soon after but another injury almost immediately saw him call time on his playing career.

Craig Brown pictured at Falkirk during the 1966-67 season.

A step into management

After a period as assistant manager at Motherwell, Brown got his big break at Clyde in 1977.

He spent ten seasons in charge of the Bully Wee, winning the Second Division title in 1978 and 1982.

The Clyde team with the Second Division trophy following their 1982 success. Back row (from left): Billy McLaren, David Rae, James Dempsey, Alan Campbell, Greig Young, Danny Masterson, Paul Flexney, Ian Gillespie.<br />Third row: William Byrne, Alex McFadden, Mark Edwards, Steven Evans, Sandy Andrews, Dougie Campbell,Steven Higgins, Steven Marlow, Tom Walker.<br />Second row: Pat Nevin, Derek McCutcheon, Thomas Coutts, John Brogan, In McRitchie, Douglas Cochrane, Paul Jewell, Thomas O’Neill, Thomas McQueen, Robert Reilly, Gerry Hendry<br />Front row: Mark Flaherty, Jim Freel (coach), James Sinclair, Billy McColl, Craig Brown (manager), James Doherty, Derek Wood, Rab Thorburn (asst manager), Joseph Miller.

He left Clyde in 1986 to take up a role with the Scottish FA, as assistant manager to the national team and also in charge of the youth teams. He would go on to succeed Andy Roxburgh as Scotland manager in 1993 following Scotland’s failure to qualify for the 1994 World Cup in the United States.

Craig Brown pictured at a Scotland friendly against Canada in Toronto in 1992. The Scots won 3-1.

Brown made Scotland very tough to beat during his time in charge and guided the country to Euro 96 and the World Cup in 1998 but the national team failed to make it out of the group stages on both occasions.

Scotland’s manager Craig Brown enjoys a joke with Andy Goram (left), Gary McAllister and John Collins (right) during a press conference at Euro ’96.

The famous World Cup qualifier between Estonia and Scotland in 1996 that was abandoned after three seconds. Brown leads his players back into the dressing room after the Estonians failed to appear for the match.

Scotland manager Craig Brown gets his hands on the World Cup.

Craig Brown meets Scotland fans before the opening game of the World Cup against Brazil in 1998. Image: PA.

Scotland manager Craig Brown gives instructions from the technical area during Scotland’s 1-1 draw against Norway. Image: SNS.

Scotland’s Craig Burley walks past manager Craig Brown to head for the dressing room having been shown the red card in a 3-0 defeat by Morocco. Image: SNS.

Scotland manager Craig Brown pictured before the European Championship play-off first leg encounter against England at Hampden. Scotland lost 2-0.

England manager Kevin Keegan And Craig Brown at a Nationwide press conference ahead of the Euro 2000 play-off matches.

A Don of a new era

Brown resigned from the Scotland job in October 2001 after failing to take the national team to Euro 2000 and the 2002 World Cup.

He was appointed Preston North End boss in April 2002 but left in August 2004 after a poor start to the season.

Brown returned to Scotland to take charge of Motherwell in December 2009 before moving to Pittodrie to take charge of a struggling Aberdeen in December 2010.

New Aberdeen manager Craig Brown and his assistant Archie Knox after their unveiling in 2010. Image: Kami Thomson/DC Thomson.

Celtic boss Neil Lennon (left) shakes hands with Aberdeen counterpart Craig Brown ahead of the 2011 Scottish Cup semi-final. Image: SNS.

Rangers manager Ally McCoist shares a joke with Aberdeen counterpart Craig Brown (right) as they make their way to the dugouts ahead of a 2011 league meeting at Pittodrie.

Derek McInnes chats with Dons counterpart Craig Brown when McInnes was still at St Johnstone in 2011.

Brown, who was working without a contract at Motherwell, was aged 70 when he succeeded Mark McGhee in the Dons hotseat.

Craig Brown was replaced by Derek McInnes in 2013.

Sir Alex Ferguson (left) is all smiles as he chats with former Aberdeen manager Craig Brown during the William Hill Scottish Cup fourth round draw. Image: SNS.

Brown steadied the ship at Aberdeen and laid the foundations for a period of consistency the club would enjoy under his successor Derek McInnes.

It was announced on 14 March 2013 that Brown would retire at the end of the 2012-13 campaign and take up a non-executive director role on the Dons board.

His departure was brought forward when McInnes was appointed later that month.