Former Scotland manager Craig Brown has passed away at the age of 82.
Brown will best be remembered for his nine years in charge of the Scottish national team between 1993 and 2001, in which he took the Tartan Army to Euro 96 in England and to their last World Cup, in France, in 1998.
A wing-half in the 1950s, Brown began his football career on the books at Rangers, before playing for Dundee – where he was a Scottish league champion in 1962 – and Falkirk.
Brown also managed the likes of Clyde, Preston North End, Motherwell and most recently Aberdeen, in a career which spanned seven decades in the sport. Brown retired after a knee injury, became an assistant coach at Motherwell and then took Clyde to a second division title while juggling also being a primary school headteacher.
"Craig was always brilliant with me," Alan Burrows, chief executive at Aberdeen tweeted. "He was brilliant the first day I met him on Tuesday 29 December 2009, and he was brilliant in the last conversation we had a week last Thursday. He could barely make it through a chat without saying something nice, paying an undue compliment or thanking you for something or other, even when he himself was struggling. I always found him to be that sort of guy, and he was genuine about it too.
"I’ll also cherish a friend, a mentor, and a terrifically warm human being. Rest easy Craig – and thank you so much for everything you did for me. I’ll never forget it."
The former Scotland boss was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1999 Birthday Honours for services to football.
