It is with great sadness that we announce the death of former Torquay United manager Allan Brown at the age of 84.
Allan made his name as a player with Blackpool and his team-mate included Sir Stanley Matthews and Stan Mortensen. He also won 14 caps for Scotland.
He managed the Gulls from January 1969 to October 1971 after he was appointed to succeed Frank O'Farrell. Coincidently, Allan had applied for the job that O'Farrell left Plainmoor to take, the Leicester City manager's job, before he arrived at Plainmoor.
Prior to taking charge of United, he had managed Wigan Athletic and Luton Town.
After taking charge of Torquay, Allan found himself busy in the transfer market, bringing in players such as John Rudge from Carlisle United for £7,000 and Tommy Mitchinson from Aston Villa for £6,000. He also sold fans' favourite Robin Stubbs to Bristol Rovers in a deal worth £12,000.
Under Allan's guidance, the Gulls finished 6th, 13th and 10th in the 1968-69, 1969-70 and 1970-71 seasons respectively.
In the 1970-71, they recorded their last league double over Plymouth Argyle to date.
Allan left Plainmoor early in the 1971-72 campaign after publicly stating in a post-match interview: "This team will get me the sack!"
Neverthless, during his tenure in charge of the Gulls, he had made the club in the region of £100,000 in transfer fees in a period that saw the average attendances at Plainmoor shrink from 9,000 to 6,000.
His post Plainmoor career saw him manage Bury, Nottingham Forest, where he was the predecessor of Brian Clough, and Southport.
He also had two spells as manager of Blackpool as well as a stint in Kuwait.
We would like to pass on our sincere condolenses to his family, friends and former team-mates.