Phil Brown, widely recognized for leading Hull City to the Premier League and successfully keeping them there for a season, is now setting his sights lower down the pyramid. Today, his objective is to steer Kidderminster Harriers back into the National League.
Kidderminster faces Southport away, needing a victory to secure the National League North title and automatic promotion. Their closest rivals, Brackley, are behind only on goal difference, while Scunthorpe trails by two points.
Only the team finishing top earns automatic promotion, with the sides from second to seventh entering the play-offs.
Brown, aged 65, guided the Tigers to the top flight in 2009 and also achieved promotion to League One with Southend in 2015. His managerial career also includes spells at Derby, Preston, and Barrow.
He shared with SunSport: “This could be a defining moment in my career. It honestly feels more exhilarating than getting promoted to the Premier League. I’ve achieved promotion twice as a manager, and my assistant Neil McDonald and I were part of Sam Allardyce’s coaching staff at Bolton. But this feels particularly special.”
“Some people might think that having experienced success in the Premier League means success in the lower divisions should be easy. That’s completely false. Ultimately, if your owners aren’t providing the necessary support, you’re going to face difficulties. You have to manage expectations and resources, and Macca and I have learned a great deal about the process of being successful at this level.”
“Macca also worked with Sam at Blackburn and West Ham and has assisted me before. Having the right backroom team is absolutely crucial.”
Remarkably, Kiddy attracted a crowd of 5,341 for their recent league game against Hereford on Monday, surpassing the 5,327 attendance for their 2022 FA Cup clash against Premier League giants West Ham.
Sam Allardyce, who hails from nearby Dudley, hosted an “Evening with Sam Allardyce” event in November and attended Kidderminster`s game against Burton the following day.
Brown commented: “He came into the changing room on Saturday, gave a team talk, and then watched the match. It was fantastic – it shows how these prominent figures still connect with non-league football.”
“I previously worked with Brian Horton, a former Manchester City manager, and he spoke very highly of the Harriers. He said, ‘Kidderminster is one of the biggest non-league clubs. They’ve been in the EFL before under Jan Molby, and if you can get them performing, there’s no reason they can’t return to the Football League.’”
Brown is famously remembered for singing The Beach Boys’ hit ‘Sloop John B’ to Hull fans after the club secured their Premier League survival on the final day of the 2010 season.
The Geordie manager mentioned he still enjoys singing, jokingly stating: “I have my daughter’s christening in May, and I can guarantee I’ll be on the microphone for most of the night.”
While keeping his personal playlist private, Brown highly recommends listening to the song ‘Front Door Famous’ by country singer Luke Combs.
He explained: “My main motivation in life is always to make my family proud. The song ‘Front Door Famous’ is brilliant. It captures the idea that when you walk through your front door, it doesn’t matter who you are outside, your kids run up and say ‘daddy,’ and that’s what truly matters in life.”
