Brown joined the Manchester United Academy in 1992 and signed his first professional contract with the club in November 1996. His introduction to the first team did not come until 1998 when he appeared as a substitute in a 3-0 home win over Leeds United. Brown recalls one special moment of his debut. As he won a race for the ball with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, the Leeds striker said “Wes, slow down son.” Flattered that he knew his name, Wes would go on to create a legendary status of his own.

Between 1998 and 2011 he made a total of 362 league and cup appearances for United, scoring 5 goals. During this golden era for United they won 8 Premier League titles, 2 FA Cups, 3 League Cups and 2 Champions League titles. In his first full season with the first team in 1998-99, he made a total of 21 appearances in all competitions as United won the famous treble of the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League.

Brown was known as an out and out defender and has said that he loved defending, putting his body on the line and keeping clean sheets. His manager at the time, Sir Alex Ferguson once described him as “without doubt the best natural defender this club has had for years.” He was named in the PFA Premier League Team of the Season for 2000-01.

This ability resulted in regular call ups for England duty. In addition to 8 appearances for the England Under 21 team, he made 23 appearances for his country between 1999 and 2010. Most notably he was part of the 2002 World Cup squad in South Korea and Japan. He also played in qualifying games for the 2008 UEFA Euro and 2010 World Cup Tournaments. His one England goal came in a friendly against the Czech Republic at Wembley Stadium in 2008 when he headed in a David Beckham corner.

After leaving United in 2011, he joined Sunderland where he remained until 2016. During that period, he made 87 appearances for the club, scoring 1 goal.

Following a period blighted by injury, he signed for Blackburn Rovers in September 2016. In addition to a coaching role with the club’s development squad he made just 6 appearances scoring one goal. In the 2017-18 season he made 14 appearances for Kerala Blasters in the Indian Super League but left at the start of the following season.

Wes has now retired from playing and lives in Cheshire with his wife Leanne and their three daughters. He has worked regularly with MUTV and he holds a UEFA ‘A’ Coaching Licence. Leanne will be known to many for her appearances in the ITV docudrama The Real Housewives of Cheshire.

See Wes as part of the Manchester United Legends here at Emley on April 5th. Buy your tickets online here, in person at The Wentworth (opposite the football club) or phone 01484 506940