Rhys Browne

Rhys Browne

Personal information
Full name	Stephen Rhys Browne [1]
Date of birth	(1995-11-16) 16 November 1995 (age 28)
Place of birth	Romford, England
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in) [2]
Position(s)	Winger; forward
Team information
Current team	Woking
Number	14
Youth career
	Interwood
2012–2014	Norwich City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2014–2015	Charlton Athletic	0	(0)
2015	→ VCD Athletic (loan)	3	(1)
2015–2016	Aldershot Town	37	(6)
2016–2017	Grimsby Town	5	(0)
2017	→ Macclesfield Town (loan)	17	(2)
2017–2019	Yeovil Town	63	(5)
2019–2020	Port Vale	11	(0)
2020–2021	Wealdstone	1	(0)
2021	Sutton United	12	(0)
2021–2022	Wealdstone	42	(13)
2022–	Woking	47	(15)
International career‡
2015–	Antigua and Barbuda	12	(2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:08, 20 April 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 08:47, 10 July 2021 (UTC)

Stephen Rhys Browne (born 16 November 1995) is an Antiguan footballer who plays for National League club Woking. Able to play as a winger or striker, he has been capped by the Antigua and Barbuda national football team.

A former youth team player at Norwich City and Charlton Athletic, he also spent time on loan at Isthmian League side VCD Athletic. He won the FA Youth Cup and Norfolk Senior Cup with Norwich, but did not play a first-team game for the "Canaries". He spent the 2015–16 season with Aldershot Town in the National League, before winning a move into the English Football League with Grimsby Town in June 2016. From Grimsby he was loaned out to Macclesfield Town, and played on the losing side in the 2017 FA Trophy final. He joined Yeovil Town in June 2017, before departing following the club's relegation out of the Football League at the end of the 2018–19 season. He remained in the Football League however, signing with Port Vale in July 2019. He left the club in August 2020 and joined Sutton United via Wealdstone in January 2021. Sutton went on to win promotion as National League champions at the end of the 2020–21 season. He rejoined Wealdstone in June 2021 and was sold on to Woking in October 2022.

Club career

Early career

Browne joined Norwich City as a youth team player, having previously played for Interwood. ^[3] He was part of the squad that won the 2012–13 FA Youth Cup with 4–2 aggregate victory over Chelsea, as well as the Norfolk Senior Cup that same season with a 2–0 win over Wroxham. ^[3] He never made the senior team at Carrow Road however, and was released by Norwich at the end of the 2013–14 season, subsequently joining Charlton Athletic. From Charlton he was loaned out to VCD Athletic of the Isthmian League. ^[4] He left The Valley after being released by Charlton in May 2015. ^{[5] [6]}

Aldershot Town

Following his release from Charlton, Browne went on trial with National League club Aldershot Town. ^[7] During his time on trial he scored in friendlies against Basingstoke Town and Chelsea under-21s, ^[7] and impressed manager Barry Smith enough to win a contract on 31 July 2015. ^[7] Browne made his competitive début and scored his first goal for the "Shots" in a 2–1 defeat to Gateshead at the Recreation Ground on 8 August. ^[8] He went on to score seven goals in 41 appearances across the 2015–16 season as Aldershot posted a 15th-place finish.

Grimsby Town

On 21 June 2016, Browne signed a two-year contract with newly-promoted League Two side Grimsby Town for an undisclosed fee. ^[9] He made his debut for the "Mariners" in the EFL Cup, coming on as a 55th-minute substitute for Sean McAllister in a 1–0 defeat at Derby County. ^[10] He made a further seven appearances for the club, all as a substitute, and new manager Marcus Bignot revealed that he was working to get the young striker a loan move closer to his family home after time spent on compassionate leave following the death of his father. ^[11] On 12 January, he joined National League side Macclesfield Town on loan until the end of the 2016–17 season. ^[12] He scored his first goal in his first league start for the "Silkmen", in a 1–0 win at Eastleigh on 21 February. ^[13] He scored four goals in six games of the club's FA Trophy run, including one in the final at Wembley Stadium, though Macclesfield would lose the game 3–2 to York City. ^[14] In all he scored six goals in 24 games during his time at Moss Rose.

Paul Hurst brought me in at Grimsby and left so there was a change in manager. After that it was a bit of a rollercoaster and not knowing how to settle so it wasn't anything about not liking it. A lot was happening with me off the field and I needed to play some games (out on loan) and take away what was going on. I was in a position where I was away from my family and not playing games.

— Browne arrived at Blundell Park at a bad time and found it difficult to settle. ^[15]

Yeovil Town

On 16 June 2017, Browne left Grimsby for Yeovil Town, signing a two-year contract for an undisclosed fee. ^[16] He stated that the "Glovers" aim was to achieve automatic promotion, though admitted that "I've never really played in this league before so I don't really know what the test is". ^[17] On 30 January, he scored past former club Grimsby in a 3–0 win at Huish Park. ^[18] He ended the 2017–18 campaign with six goals in 42 games as Darren Way's Yeovil posted a 19th-place finish. Having contributed just one goal from 30 appearances in the 2018–19 season and missing the end of season run-in with a hamstring injury, Browne was released by Yeovil following the club's relegation from the Football League. ^{[19] [20]}

Port Vale

Browne signed for League Two side Port Vale on 27 July 2019, having been on trial at the club throughout pre season; he had previously played under manager John Askey at Macclesfield Town. ^[21] A hamstring problem caused him to miss the first month of the 2019–20 season, and he eventually made his debut for the "Valiants" on 14 September, replacing Callum Evans 35 minutes into a 1–0 win over Plymouth Argyle at Vale Park; ironically Evans was taken off due to a hamstring injury, as was winger David Amoo, leaving Browne with an opportunity to stake a first-team place in their absence. ^{[22] [23] [24]} He scored his first goal for the club in an EFL Trophy tie against Mansfield Town on 3 December. ^[25] After the game Askey commented that Browne "has a tendency to be lazy" but "has got a lot of ability [and] if he is confident then he can play at a high level". ^[26] Speaking in February, first-team coach Danny Pugh said that "he has done exceptionally well in the last couple of games... [though] it has been a frustrating season [for him and] maybe he has not played as much as he would have liked". ^[27] He signed a new one-year contract after he ended the campaign with one goals in 15 appearances. ^{[28] [29]} On 29 August 2020, Browne left Port Vale having had his contract terminated at his request. ^[30] Askey cited family reasons for the player's departure, adding that "it was a shame because he was doing well". ^[31]

Non-League

On 23 December 2020, Browne signed for National League side Wealdstone. ^[32] He made only one brief appearance for the "Stones", in a 4–0 defeat at Maidenhead United on Boxing day. ^[33] On 6 January 2021, Browne signed for fellow National League side Sutton United. ^[34] He made 14 appearances in the second half of the 2020–21 season, as Sutton secured promotion into the Football League as champions of the National League. ^{[33] [35]} However, he was one of seven players released in the summer by manager Matt Gray. ^[36] Browne returned to Wealdstone in June 2021, signing a one-year contract with an option for a second year. ^[37] On 13 November 2021, Browne scored his first goal for the Stones, coming off the bench and scoring the only goal in a 1–0 victory over rivals Barnet at Grosvenor Vale. ^[38] In March 2022, Browne scored three goals in two games, with a goal away to Maidenhead United and a brace in a 3–2 win over Weymouth. ^{[39] [40]} He ended the 2021–22 season with six goals in 29 games. ^[2]

On 14 October 2022, Browne joined league rivals Woking for an undisclosed fee, having scored seven goals in thirteen league games in the early part of Wealdstone's season. ^[41] He scored 13 goals from 31 appearances in the remainder of the 2022–23 campaign, helping Woking to a fourth-place finish. ^[2]

International career

Browne made his international début for Antigua and Barbuda at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium on 10 June 2015, coming on as a 66th-minute substitute for Keiran Murtagh in a 4–1 defeat to Saint Lucia in the second round of 2018 FIFA World Cup CONCACAF qualification. ^[42] His second cap and first international start came in the second leg, where he was substituted in the 46th-minute in a 4–1 win; Antigua won 5–4 on aggregate, and advanced to the third round. ^{[43] [44]} He scored his first international goal on 21 March 2018, opening the scoring in a 3–2 friendly win over Bermuda. ^[45]

Style of play

On signing for Aldershot Town, manager Barry Smith said; "Rhys fulfils everything that we're looking for in a wide player – he's quick, he's got a trick, he's enthusiastic and has had a good upbringing in football. When you see someone as exciting as Rhys you want to have these type of players in your squad". ^[7] Yeovil manager Darren Way commented that "Rhys is technically a very, very gifted player and someone I've been aware of for the last two years. He likes to get the ball to feet, be positive in one-on-one situations and he's got a good end product in the final third". ^[46]

Personal life

Browne is the son of former Yeovil Town footballer Steve Browne. ^[47]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 20 April 2024

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Charlton Athletic	2014–15 [48]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
VCD Athletic (loan)	2014–15 [49]	Isthmian League Premier Division	3	1	0	0	—		—		3	1
Aldershot Town	2015–16 [50]	National League	37	6	3	1	—		1 [lower-alpha 1]	0	41	7
Grimsby Town	2016–17 [51]	League Two	5	0	1	0	1	0	1 [lower-alpha 2]	0	8	0
Macclesfield Town (loan)	2016–17 [51]	National League	17	2	—		—		7 [lower-alpha 1]	4	24	6
Yeovil Town	2017–18 [52]	League Two	35	4	2	0	1	0	4 [lower-alpha 2]	2	42	6
	2018–19 [53]	League Two	28	1	1	0	0	0	1 [lower-alpha 2]	0	30	1
	Total		63	5	3	0	1	0	5	0	72	7
Port Vale	2019–20 [54]	League Two	11	0	1	0	0	0	3 [lower-alpha 2]	1	15	1
Wealdstone	2020–21 [2]	National League	1	0	0	0	—		0	0	1	0
Sutton United	2020–21 [2]	National League	12	0	0	0	—		2 [lower-alpha 1]	0	14	0
Wealdstone	2021–22 [2]	National League	29	6	0	0	—		0	0	29	6
	2022–23 [2]	National League	13	7	0	0	—		0	0	13	7
	Total		42	13	0	0	0	0	0	0	42	13
Woking	2022–23 [2]	National League	28	13	2	0	—		1 [lower-alpha 1]	0	31	13
	2023–24 [2]	National League	19	2	2	0	—		1 [lower-alpha 1]	2	22	4
	Total		47	15	4	0	—		2	2	53	17
Career total			238	42	12	1	2	0	21	9	273	52

1. Appearance(s) in FA Trophy
2. Appearances in EFL Trophy

International

As of match played 8 June 2021. ^[55]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Antigua and Barbuda	2015	2	0
	2016	4	0
	2018	4	1
	2021	2	1
Total		12	2

As of match played 8 June 2021. Antigua & Barbuda score listed first, score column indicates score after each Browne goal. ^[55]

International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	21 March 2018	Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound, Antigua & Barbuda	7	Bermuda	1–0	3–2	Friendly
2	4 June 2021		11	Grenada	1–0	1–0	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Norwich City Youth

• FA Youth Cup: 2012–13 ^[3]
• Norfolk Senior Cup: 2013 ^[3]

Macclesfield Town

• FA Trophy runner-up: 2016–17 ^[2]

Sutton United

• National League: 2020–21 ^[35]

References

1. "The Football League Retained List". The Football League. 12 June 2015. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
2. Rhys Browne at Soccerway
3. "Rhys Browne". Flown From The Nest. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
4. Hunt, Mark (29 October 2015). "Cray Wanderers vs Charlton Athletic Kent Senior Cup". News Shopper. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
5. "Triple Shock at Charlton as three key players released". Sevenoaks Chronicle. 12 May 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
6. Groome, Olly (12 May 2015). "Charlton announce list of released players". Charlton Athletic F.C. Archived from the original on 12 May 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
7. "Shots Sign Trialist Browne". Aldershot Town F.C. 31 July 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
8. "Aldershot 1-2 Gateshead". BBC Sport. 8 August 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
9. "Mariners sign Aldershot forward Rhys Browne". Grimsby Telegraph. 21 June 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2016.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
10. "Derby County 1-0 Grimsby Town". BBC Sport. 9 August 2016. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
11. "Rhys Set For Loan Move?". www.grimsby-townfc.co.uk. 5 January 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
12. "Macclesfield Town sign Grimsby's Rhys Browne on loan until end of season". BBC Sport. 12 January 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2019.
13. "Eastleigh 0-1 Macclesfield Town". BBC Sport. 21 February 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
14. "FA Trophy final - Macclesfield Town v York City". BBC Sport. 18 May 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
15. Hancock, Lewis (15 September 2017). "INTERVIEW | Browne relishing Grimsby return". www.ytfc.net. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
16. "Rhys Browne: Yeovil Town sign winger from Grimsby Town for undisclosed fee". BBC Sport. 16 June 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
17. Marsh, Ollie (2 August 2017). "Why new Glover Rhys Browne is aiming for automatic promotion". somersetlive. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
18. "Yeovil Town 3-0 Grimsby Town". BBC Sport. 30 January 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
19. O'Loughlin, Alex (24 April 2019). "NEWS | Season over for Browne". www.ytfc.net. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
20. "Yeovil Town: Glovers release nine players after relegation from Football League". BBC Sport. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
21. Baggaley, Michael (27 July 2019). "Port Vale sign winger Rhys Browne". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
22. Baggaley, Michael (30 July 2019). "Port Vale injury update on Ryan Lloyd, Rhys Browne and Cristian Montano". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
23. "Port Vale 1-0 Plymouth Argyle". BBC Sport. 14 September 2019. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
24. Baggaley, Michael (14 September 2019). "Port Vale injury news on David Amoo, Tom Conlon and Callum Evans". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
25. "Penalties misery again as Mansfield Town bow out of Trophy at Port Vale". chad.co.uk. 3 December 2019. Retrieved 4 December 2019.
26. Baggaley, Michael (6 December 2019). "'He's got a lot of ability' - Port Vale boss on winger". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
27. Baggaley, Michael (19 February 2020). "'He has shown people what he's about' - Port Vale coach impressed with winger". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
28. Baggaley, Michael (20 May 2020). "Port Vale talks with out-of-contract players as owners back club through crisis". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
29. "Cristian Montano & Rhys Browne: Port Vale pair sign new one-year contracts". BBC Sport. 6 July 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
30. Baggaley, Michael (29 August 2020). "'He was doing well' - Rhys Browne leaves Port Vale after request". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
31. Baggaley, Michael (29 August 2020). "'He was doing well' - Rhys Browne leaves Port Vale after request". StokeonTrentLive. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
32. "Wealdstone sign two more following addition of Lench". West London Sport. 23 December 2020.
33. "R. Browne". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
34. "Welcome Rhys Browne". Sutton United F.C. 6 January 2021. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
35. Treadwell, Matthew (23 May 2021). "Sutton United promoted to League Two for first time in their history". Sky Sports. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
36. "Squad news". Sutton United Football Club. 2 June 2021. Retrieved 5 June 2021.
37. "Browne returns to Stones". Wealdstone FC. 22 June 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
38. "MATCH REPORT | Wealdstone 1-0 Barnet". Wealdstone FC. 13 November 2021. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
39. "MATCH REPORT | Maidenhead United 0-2 Wealdstone". Wealdstone FC. 8 March 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
40. "MATCH REPORT | Wealdstone 3-2 Weymouth". Wealdstone FC. 12 March 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
41. Bennett, Dan (14 October 2022). "Wealdstone sell top scorer Browne to Woking". West London Sport. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
42. "Antigua and Barbuda 1 - 3 Saint Lucia". Caribbean Football Database. 10 June 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
43. "Saint Lucia 1 - 4 Antigua and Barbuda". Caribbean Football Database. 14 June 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
44. "Rhys On The Road To Russia". Aldershot Town F.C. 1 September 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
45. "Antigua and Barbuda vs. Bermuda - 22 March 2018 - Soccerway". my.soccerway.com. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
46. Baggaley, Michael (6 July 2019). "Who are Port Vale's trialists - factfile on the four in action at Kidsgrove". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
47. "Tributes for ex-Potters Bar Town manager Steve Browne". Welwyn Hatfield Times. 3 January 2017. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
48. "Games played by Rhys Browne in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
49. "VCD Athletic | Appearances | Stephen Rhys Brown | 2014-2015 | Football Web Pages". www.footballwebpages.co.uk. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
50. "Games played by Rhys Browne in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
51. "Games played by Rhys Browne in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
52. "Games played by Rhys Browne in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
53. "Games played by Rhys Browne in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
54. "Games played by Rhys Browne in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
55. "Browne, Rhys". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 3 July 2016.

External links

• Rhys Browne at Soccerbase
• Rhys Browne at National-Football-Teams.com