Club Records - Managers - Terry Brown

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Born: 5.8.52, Hillingdon.
Managerial Tenure: 24.3.02 to 27.3.07.
First Game: v Newport (Isle of Wight)(A), Hampshire Senior Cup Semi final second leg, 26.3.02.
Last Game: v Weymouth (H), 27.03.07, Conference National.

Having come up through the youth and reserves, Terry made his debut for his hometown club of Hayes as a 19-year-old forward against Enfield in April 1971. He became a regular during the next season and featured in the FA Cup defeat of Bristol Rovers. He caught the attention of scouts from Fulham and Millwall and was selected for the FA Amateur XI.

He joined Slough Town in the summer of 1973 and was an integral part of the sides that were runners-up to Dagenham in the Isthmian League second division in 1973-74 and that reached the 1976-77 FA Trophy semi-finals, where they (again) lost out to Dagenham. Apart from a brief (one match!) spell at Sutton United, Terry stayed at Wexham Park until August 1977 when he rejoined Hayes in August 1977. He stayed at Church Road until October 1979 and made a total of 148 appearances and scored 45 goals across his two spells. He then left for Wokingham Town where he went on to become the Berkshire club’s record goal scorer with 91 goals.

Following his retirement in the summer of 1984, he remained at Finchampstead Road in a variety of coaching capacities, during which time he was part of Roy Merryweather’s staff as the club were defeated Telford United in the FA Trophy semi-finals in 1987-88; they also finished as runners-up to Slough in the Isthmian League Premier Division in 1989-90.

In December 1993, he joined his former club Hayes as manager; at the time, the club were languishing at the foot of the Isthmian League Premier Division, but Terry inspired them to a 13th place finish. In 1995-96, they won the Premier Division, ironically finishing above George Borg’s Enfield on goal difference. That season also saw Terry appointed as manager of the Isthmian League representative side in the October. The years in the Conference that followed showed what an enthusiastic manager could achieve working on a low budget. Hayes achieved a club-best third-place finish in 1998-99, finishing six points below Cheltenham Town.

Realising he would be unable to take Hayes any further, Terry applied for the vacancy at the Rec and (in March 2002), after 462 matches scoring 722 goals in charge of Hayes, left Church Road to become manager of Aldershot Town. His arrival at the Rec started a five-year love affair with the Shots supporters. He immediately made his first crucial signing by keeping Stuart Cash as his assistant. George Borg’s former assistant had steered the side through a rocky period as caretaker manager and the two immediately struck-up a firm relationship, with the Hampshire Senior Cup being secured in their first month together.

The following season, Terry steered the club to the Isthmian League Premier Division title (by a 13-point margin) accumulating 105
points in the process. The victory at Canvey Island in April 2003 remains one of the most memorable in the club’s short existence. The following season, the Shots exceeded all expectations securing an unlikely play-off spot by virtue of finishing fifth in the Conference
together with the highest average attendance recorded at the Rec since 1979. After a penalty shoot-out defeat of Hereford United in the semis, the Shots lost in another shoot-out to Shrewsbury Town in front of 19216 spectators at the Britannia Stadium, Stoke. The season also saw the FA Trophy semi-finals reached and another FA Cup first round placing.

In 2004-05, with the club having gone full-time, another play-off position was achieved and penalty shoot-out heartbreak was again experienced with Carlisle United winning an epic encounter at Brunton Park. The Shots also reached the second round of the FA Cup and the final of the Hampshire Senior Cup (where they lost to Winchester City). The 2005-06 season was a disappointment as the club finished 13th in the Conference National, the first time an Aldershot Town side had finished in the lower half of a table as, through a variety of reasons, 47 players were used. Terry’s final season in charge saw the club reach the FA Cup third round for the first time in their history, but personal anxiety caused the respected West Londoner to resign his position to care for his wife Susan, who had been diagnosed with leukaemia. Testament to his popularity saw him bid farewell to Shots supporters in his final match against Weymouth in March 2007 amid emotional scenes to a standing ovation from spectators and players alike after the final whistle.

After a short break from football, Terry teamed up with Stuart Cash again in May 2007 when he was appointed manager of the progressive AFC Wimbledon (Cash again linked-up as his assistant after a spell at Lewes). In Terry’s first season at Kingsmeadow, promotion was achieved through a tense Isthmian League Premier Division play-off final against Staines Town where the Wombles won 2-1, with both goals scored in the final 10 minutes at Wheatsheaf Park to steer the club into the Conference South for the first time in their history. The 2008-09 season saw Terry lead the Wombles to the FA Cup first round for the first time in the club’s history, but they progressed no further, losing to Wycombe Wanderers. The end of the season yielded an even bigger prize for all concerned as the Conference South title was secured (by a margin of just three points from Hampton and Richmond Borough), which meant that the Wombles were now just one division outside the Football League! This achievement also afforded Terry the “Conference South Manager of the Year” accolade at the league’s annual end-of-season awards, a ceremony at which AFC Wimbledon made a “clean sweep” of the honours.

AFC Wimbledon finished in a commendable eighth place in the Conference Premier in 2009-10 as well as being runners-up to Metropolitan Police in an eight-goal London Senior Cup final that went to penalties.