
Phil Brown
Phil Brown
Phil Brown enjoyed a decent playing career at the likes of Bolton, Blackpool, and Hartlepool, but it's as a manager that he's really made a name for himself.
Brown spent the early part of his coaching career under the tutelage of Sam Allardyce at Blackpool, then Colin Todd at Bolton, taking caretaker charge of the Trotters for a handful of games, before again gaining valuable experience as an assistant to Big Sam at the Reebok Stadium.
Brown then went solo in 2005, taking charge of Derby for seven months, before moving to Hull, first as a coach, then manager. Brown led the Tigers up to the Premier League for the fist time in 2008, and even managed to preserve the unfancied club's top-flight status, however he lost his job towards the end of the following campaign - he was placed on gardening leave and then given the boot.
Next up he captained a sunken ship in Preston, who he was unable to save from relegation down to League One. Brown then took 14 months out of the game, before taking charge of Southend in 2013, leading the club up to the third-tier in 2015.
Outside of football Brown, a trained electrician, has spoken of a time in 2009 when he apparently saved a suicidal woman from jumping off the Humber Bridge, near Kingston upon Hull.