Michael Brown spent three seasons with Leeds United towards the end of his career, having arrived from Portsmouth in 2011.
He played 78 games for the club, scoring three goals. However, his time at Elland Road as a veteran midfielder was far from his best years as a professional player.
Brown played for the likes of Sheffield United and Tottenham Hotspur, as well as starting with Manchester City. He had a distinguished career in the top flight during the peak seasons of his career.
He is now a pundit for Sky Sports and Michael Brown’s Harry Gray claims when working for Sky previously have been exciting. However, he also does media work for the BBC as well, which is where his latest reveal might shock Leeds United supporters.
Michael Brown reveals Kalvin Phillips was his boot boy at Leeds
Kyle Walker spoke to Michael Brown on The Kyle Walker Podcast via the BBC. Brown played in a generation before Walker’s and discussed some of the differences to that.
Brown said: “For me, I needed certain boots and kit looked after. I want the shirts, so the first thing I do is straight away get the kit man onside.
“There’s a little retainer — thanks very much for looking after me. Then away you go, isn’t it?”
Walker asked: “Did you have a boot boy, then?”
Brown said: “So, first when I started off, I was a boot boy originally.”
Walker clicked his fingers laughing and responded: “Kalvin Phillips.”
Brown smiled and responded: “Yeah, well, we don’t have to talk about that Kalvin Phillips did my boots, yeah.
“So, I first had Kalvin Phillips doing my boots at Leeds. That wasn’t a bad one. Then I had my turn doing the boots.
“Then it all stopped that. But I think that was a nice thing regards to a grounding of someone realising they want to get in the first-team.
“Now it’s just the kitman again who will sort all of that.”
Kyle Walker’s Marcelo Bielsa revelation recently uncovered some of the differences between football now and as little as five years ago, but it’s vastly different between the 34-year-old and a 48-year-old Brown.
Leeds will be desperate to avoid another Kalvin Phillips situation
Michael Brown thought Leeds would sack Daniel Farke but the German remains in post ahead of a busy summer for Leeds coming up.
Leeds may have to sell more homegrown players or players who make a huge difference in PSR terms, much like Kalvin Phillips did with his sale to Man City in 2022.
Leeds got their investment badly wrong that summer, eyeing younger players and players who lacked Premier League experience.
The 49ers must learn from those lessons this time around, with plenty of work to do. A mixture of foreign and domestic-based signings ought to be brought in. The balance must be so much better than previous Premier League seasons.
