Craig Brown earned ‘Sh*gger’ nickname as Scotland boss dated three women at once
Former Scotland boss Craig Brown was once given the nickname ‘Sh*gger’ by the Tartan Army.
Brown, who passed away at the age of 82 on Monday, was once given a crude nickname after his private life became front and centre stage during his time as Scotland boss.
During his spell in charge of Scotland between 1993 and 2001, Brown was caught playing keepie-uppie with three women in 1999.
The busy bed-hopper managed to satisfy his partner of two decades at the same time as romping with a teacher and a nurse.
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But less than a year later Brown had split from all three to find new love with 23-year-old TV sports reporter Louise Port, with the 36-year age gap inevitably causing a stir.
Brown and Port met in 2000 when he was Scotland boss and she was a sports reporter, but their relationship didn’t last long as the couple split in the summer of 2003 despite Brown burning his bridges and admitting to their affair.
Can you remember when Brown’s love life made front page news? Let us know in the comments section.
It was said that he was initially surprised at the level of media interest and coverage into his love life, where he insisted that his private life would remain private although he wouldn’t hide from speaking about their criticised relationship throughout the years.
Years after their relationship ended, Brown, then 69 and Port, 33, were again spotted watching Scotland’s 4-0 defeat against Norway together in 2009.
But Brown and Port both swiftly moved to deny they had rekindled their love, despite their stories differing somewhat. But Port firmly assured that there would be no sequel to their relationship as she said: “I have no plans to see him again.”
Aside from his publicised love life, Brown would find solace with The Tartan Army who he said were “critical but actually quite forgiving” and “demanding but funny with it.”
Brown recalled a time when he was assistant manager at Scotland to Andy Roxburgh during the 1990 World Cup when the travelling Scotland fans in Italy did such a thing after Scotland were beaten 1-0 by Costa Rica in their opening group game.
Ahead of Scotland’s second group game, Brown recalled one fans angry reaction: “He got the sheet from his bed and with a jumbo felt pen had written: ‘Don’t worry, Andy, your P45’s in the post!’
“We saw the banner on the coach ride to the Sweden game. The players all laughed and in an inverted way it helped everyone relax, including Andy himself, who was very sensitive.
“He worried if he got a bad write-up. During games sometimes he’d go: ‘What are the fans laughing at, Brown?’ I’d tell him: ‘There’s a match on, Andy, never mind about that’.”
Scotland beat Sweden 2-1 but were ultimately dumped out of the tournament after they were beaten 1-0 by Brazil in the final group game.
Brown also found himself centre of The Tartan Army’s antics during his time in the hot seat and amid all the revelations from his private life becoming public, he said: "The News of the World had me on the front page as a ‘love cheat’. I got shouts of ‘Craig, Craig, where’s the birds?’ Then, during a dire game in Poland, it was: ‘Sh*gger Brown, Sh*gger Brown… ’”
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