When John Bond was appointed manager of
Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic in 1970, Brown was appointed as his trainer (although many sources have later described him as assistant manager which was Reg Tyrrell), and in November 1973, Brown followed Bond to
Norwich City, becoming assistant manager. In October 1980, Bond left to manage
Manchester City and Brown took over the reins at Norwich, though was unable to stop them being relegated. The following season Norwich were promoted back to
Division One at the first attempt. They won the
League Cup in 1985, but were relegated at the end of the season, only to bounce back at the first attempt again the following season as Second Division champions. Their next season back in the top flight saw Brown lead his side to fifth place, then Norwich's highest ever final position. They even topped the league during the first half of the season, and proved to be the hardest side to beat in the First Division alongside champions
Everton. The following season, Norwich started badly and by Christmas, Brown had been sacked. In addition to his success on the pitch at Norwich, he had displayed a great ability for spotting talent at lower league clubs and in the reserve sides of other top flight clubs. The likes of
Dave Watson,
Steve Bruce,
Ian Crook,
Mike Phelan and
Bryan Gunn were all brought to the club by Brown in this fashion. Watson went on to enjoy league title and
FA Cup glory at being sold to
Everton in 1986. Bruce was sold to
Manchester United immediately after Brown's sacking, and went on to lift a succession of trophies at
Old Trafford. Phelan followed Bruce to Old Trafford and collected winner's medals in the league and cup competitions during the first four of his five seasons there. Crook spent a total of 11 seasons at
Carrow Road and played a part in some of Norwich's great successes, while also enduring a relegation in 1995. Gunn, who was signed from
Aberdeen a year before Brown's sacking, remained at Carrow Road until the end of his playing career in 1999, and would spend a total of 23 years at the club as a player, member of the coaching staff and finally serving a brief spell as manager. In December 1987, Brown took charge of
Shrewsbury Town for one match in the Second Division, but decided against taking the job permanently and took time out of football instead. In July 1988 he was appointed manager of
Plymouth Argyle, where one of his signings was his son
Kenny Junior from Norwich City, who would later be sold to
West Ham United for £170,000. Brown was controversially sacked as Plymouth manager in February 1990, and decided to once more take time away from football. His spell in charge of Plymouth would prove to be his last managerial appointment. In 1994, he was approached by England manager
Terry Venables to work part-time as a scout, a duty he has since also performed for
Glenn Hoddle and
Kevin Keegan, whilst maintaining his business interest in the Lakenham Leisure Centre in
Norwich. In February 2004 he was guest of honour at
Carrow Road for the home game against
West Ham to celebrate the opening of a new stand, when a special presentation was made to Brown to commemorate his 70th birthday. ==Personal life==