Nodley Wright, Freelance Writer

Brown

THE LOCAL football fraternity is once again in mourning following the death of football administrator Courtney Brown yesterday morning.

Thirty-nine-year-old Brown, the president of the St Elizabeth Football Association, collapsed and died from what was believed to be a massive heart attack in Santa Cruz, St Elizabeth.

According to former FIFA referee Victor Stewart, Brown, himself a former referee, was addressing the annual general meeting of the St Elizabeth referees group when he fell to the ground, grabbed his chest and started breathing heavily.

"We were well into our meeting which involved about 25 referees with the next item on the agenda being the election. It was really a good address as he congratulated the referees on their fine work and urged the younger ones to aim high, and suddenly he fell to the ground and grabbed his chest," a sombre-sounding Stewart explained.

Brown, Stewart said, was rushed to the office of Dr Lincoln Little which was less than a minute away and was pronounced dead immediately. The football president had a history on hypertension but was thought to have taken steps to improve his health.

Likely heart attack

"It will require an autopsy to confirm the cause of death but most likely it was a heart attack based on his history," said Little, one of the doctors who treated Brown over the years, when contacted by The Sunday Gleaner.

"This is untimely and shocking," said Dr Safiya Franklin, a member of the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) medical committee and someone who has been on tours with Brown.

"I last saw him on Ash Wednesday at the Costa Rica game and he was doing well. He had lost a lot of weight, started training, changed his diet and was really compliant in terms of taking his medication," added Franklin of the man who would have turned 40 on May 1, and was in his third term as president of the St Elizabeth Football Association.

President of the Jamaica Football Federation Captain Horace Burrell was similarly shocked.

"I am saddened by the shocking news that Courtney Brown has passed and even moreso by the fact that he died on the job," Burrell said. "We have lost a very dedicated and hard-working football administrator and it will be difficult to replace him."

What made the passing even more difficult for Burrell to comprehend was the fact that he had spoken with Brown less than 24 hours before his death.

"I spoke to Courtney last on Friday at about 4:30 p.m. and he was in good spirits, looking forward to better things for the parish and in general. To learn less than 24 hours later of his passing makes it even more shocking. He will be missed by everyone associated with football, especially from the parish of St Elizabeth over which he has presided for close to six years."

Void created

Andrew Vassell, a member of the parish FA's executive, said of Brown: "A void has been created with his passing. He really was an instrumental part of St Elizabeth football and will be greatly missed."

A past student of Munro College in St Elizabeth, businessman Brown coached a number of club teams in the parish including Tafari Lions, which he coached and managed up to the time of his passing. Prior to that, he coached Maggotty High in the daCosta Cup competition.