On the eve of the big Old Trafford showdown, the Saturday Interview meets Blackburn Rovers chief scout Mick Brown

MICK Brown is thinking of suing his old mucker Ron Atkinson. "He keeps on telling everyone he's 56, but he's older than me and I'm 58!" laughs Mick.

Big Ron and Mick wise-cracked their way through six unforgettable years at football's dream theatre where, tomorrow, Blackburn Rovers step out for what even Alan Hansen must concede is the Premiership match of the season.

Mick, once Manchester United assistant boss, is now Rovers' chief scout, but he's quick to illustrate just where his loyalties lie. In fact it was almost a prerequisite for the interview.

"I want Blackburn Rovers to win there, in fact no-one wants that to happen more than me."

Do we sense a touch of bitterness? Definitely not - the opposite applies.

"Manchester United isn't a football club, it's an institution and a worldwide one at that. There is nowhere else like it and you really have to work there to appreciate the size of the place and everything about it.

"My time there was wonderful but, professionally, I can only be rooting for one team tomorrow and it ain't them.

"In our time at Old Trafford we had coach loads of fans from as far away as Hastings travelling up to watch training sessions - some people don't journey that sort of distance for their annual holidays!

"Visitors dropped in daily from all over the world - New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong - it was, and still is, a pilgrimage. Crickey, one year the club shop took more money than some of the other first division clubs turned over in total."

Mick joined the United rollercoaster in 1981, following Atkinson from West Brom. They had known each other from playing days with Oxford United.

"I'd come there from Cambridge. Ron left there to go to Cambridge. We both tell people we studied at Oxford and Cambridge, sounds impressive! "With United (Manchester) we got to a couple of FA Cup finals and the League Cup final and qualified for Europe several times although, latterly, the ban prevented us competing.

"That was a big frustration and I was delighted to see United get back in Europe for I know just how much it means to all concerned."

Highlights?

"Just being there day to day, but obviously the finals and a quite magical night against Barcelona when we pulled back a 2-0 deficit from the first leg to win 3-2 on aggregate at home.

"It was quite simply the finest occasion I have been involved in through 40-plus years. Talk about electric, the atmosphere was quite unbelievable.

"Ron was perfect for the manager's post. He loved the attention United attracted. He handled it brilliantly and was a meal ticket to the media, personally dishing out stories on a daily basis to a team of newsmen and film crews.

"I filled in around all that and, although we were never bosom buddies, the partnership worked well. The only down side was having to leave the place. Being second was never good enough for United, expectations were so high. We hit a spell when we weren't winning and the directors reckoned a change was needed.

"The assistant fell with the manager which was fine because that was how I had got the job in the first place, but it was still hard to accept. "It devastated me and I struggled to handle it. Luckily I found that life does exist outside Old Trafford and after a short spell out of the game I took on a similar post at Bolton with Phil Neal."

We'll break off here for a quick resume of Mick Brown's life in football.

"Kicked off as a full back with Hull City and went on to Lincoln (two gentlemen familiar in this parish, Jim Smith and Ray Harford, were also at Sincil Bank at the same time).

"Joined Cambridge, then in the Southern League, and helped them into the Football League as player-coach before taking a coaching post at Oxford where I spent a decade, the last four years as manager.

"Moved on to West Brom, then United, then Bolton, had a short spell with Coventry and now I'm here - and loving it.

"I see up to four games a week and they can be anywhere, from non-League to top European stuff.

"I believe the North West is the tops for football - not many major prizes have been won by clubs outside this region down recent years. "I've known Tony Parkes for many years and remember being on coaching courses with Roy Hodgson - well, let's just say a few years back. It's a smashing set up and great to be playing a part in it all."

Mick's been back to Old Trafford on numerous occasions, sometimes as an opponent, sometimes as a guest - but always as a friend.

"l have maintained very good and close contact with the people, but I can't remember winning there too often as a visitor. In fact I can't remember winning any. It's probably even bigger now, the stadium's much improved and the team's not bad either."

Another Brown family connection - Mick's son Gary, a fullback too, played for United's youth team and spent a season or so in Rovers reserves in the days of people like David May...hey, that's enough of the links for now.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.