Obituary: Peter 'PC' Brown: an inspirational Scotland captain who did things his own way
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PETER ‘PC’ BROWN
- Born: 16th December 1941 in Troon
- Died: 12th January 2025 in Edinburgh, aged 83
PETER BROWN, who has died aged 83, was very much a 'one-off ', a popular and colourful Scottish rugby internationalist who did things his own way. A talented back-five forward, his 27 caps were almost evenly split between second-row and No8. Unusually for a forward, he was a renowned place-kicker whose basic but effective style – turning his back on the ball, wiping his nose on his sleeve before turning round to start his run up – contrasted sharply with today's 'method men' kickers and characterised his individuality.
He was an especially talismanic player in matches against England, recording five wins, four of which were consecutive, and three as captain, while his three international tries were also scored against 'the Auld Enemy'.
In 1971, he memorably captained the first Scottish side to win at Twickenham in 33 years when his last minute nerveless conversion sealed a single point success. Teammate Ian McLauchlan later wrote: "Who else could have done it with such superb nonchalance?" One week later, he led Scotland to another win over England in the Centenary game at Murrayfield.
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As captain in 10 internationals in total, he brought self-belief, positivity and fondness for attacking rugby, beginning his first team talk somewhat unusually: " I am a chartered accountant dealing in assets and liabilities but I see only assets before me …". He insisted in doing his talks without selectors being present, something hitherto the norm.
'PC' was odds on to be selected for the British & Irish Lions’ 1971 New Zealand tour but business commitments rendered him unavailable and unable to join brother Gordon. During a lengthy career he represented the Barbarians three times, and also played for the Irish Wolfhounds and Co-Optimists.
In professional life, he was senior partner in Hogg and Thorburn, C.A., in Galashiels, Chair of the Scottish Building Society and held several non executive Directorships. He contributed effectively to charities including 'WORK+', a Borders group aimed at finding employment for disadvantaged youngsters, and was President of Wooden Spoon Scotland, the rugby charity. He also sat as Justice of the Peace in Selkirk District Court, a role which together with his rugby CV equipped him well for future appointments on the sport's international discipline panels and as a citing commissioner, the latter a role he was instrumental in creating.
Peter Currie Brown was born in Troon to parents John ['Jock'] and Margaret, the eldest of three sons, John and Gordon the others. Gordon, of course, was a well-known Scottish and Lions rugby internationalist, while John played club rugby with Marr FPs. Jock was a professional footballer, a Scottish international goalkeeper who won the Scottish Cup with Clyde. He encouraged his sons' sporting pursuits, cajoling them: “Stick in till you stick out!” Peter believed his inherited father's hand/eye coordination was of great benefit to his line-out play.
He played rugby for the first time aged 13 at Marr College where his coach told the team “first and foremost enjoy the game”, advice he always remembered. He spent three years in the 1st XV and was selected for Glasgow Schools, alongside future Test cricketer Mike Denness and 'Mighty Mouse' McLauchlan.
A versatile sportsman, Peter also played 1st XI cricket and was a successful athlete winning a variety of events at school sports including events as diverse as shot-putt and the mile. Aged 18, he ran the half mile on grass in an excellent two minutes thanks to training under former international athlete Walter Calderwood, but rugby became his priority.
Soon after leaving Marr, he joined West of Scotland and in 1961 was selected for Glasgow in the Inter-District Championship, before making his international debut in a win against France in 1964.
A year later he helped West to a joint win [with Hawick] of the Unofficial Scottish Rugby Championship but after sharing in Scotland victories over South Africa and Australia, he took an international break to concentrate on accountancy studies for a period. In the late 1960s, he moved to Galashiels for career reasons and began playing for Gala. Shortly afterwards he represented the South against the touring South Africans, a game notable for his outstanding line-out play.
Gala was a strong side boasting several Scottish internationalists and excelled at 7-a-sides with Peter a key component. He won 23 winners' and seven runners-up medals, including winning at Melrose three times consecutively between 1970 and 1972, with a total winning margin of 65 points.
They also reached the final in 1969 and during the same period recorded three successes at each of Langholm and Jed-Forest and four at Gala, among others.
And as part of the 1973 SRU Centenary celebrations, he played for Scotland at 7s in the international Murrayfield tournament. He later commented: “Gala gave my rugby a new life".
After a disappointing 1970 Scotland tour of Australia, Peter succeeded to the captaincy with his positivity according to a team-mate giving the side back their confidence and “a certain panache”. Retiring from playing after the 1973 Centenary match, he gave back to the sport through refereeing, coaching Gala and serving on its committee for years. He always supported traditional rugby values and sportsmanship and after an extremely bitter build up to the 2020 Calcutta Cup when an English player was quoted “we hate them and they hate us”, he wrote a critical letter to The Times newspaper stating: “Hate is for terrorists, not rugby players …" He stood unsuccessfully to be President of the Scottish Rugby Union in 2007.
Once retired from business he pursued interests including photography and golf which, as a member of the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, he played at Muirfield. He was also much in demand as an entertaining after dinner and public speaker.
In 1966, he married Elizabeth Nicol known as Jill with whom he enjoyed a long happy marriage and had children Kerry, Ross and Julie, who with his grandchildren, survive him.
JACK DAVIDSON
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