the Manchester City youth scheme before signing professionally for the club on 13 September 1994. While a youth player he played in a number of positions before establishing himself as a central midfielder. He captained the youth team in the 1994–95 season, leading to involvement with the first team in the 1995 pre-season. Brown made his debut for Manchester City on 26 August 1995 against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road, in which Brown was sent off only 10 minutes after coming on as a substitute for Steve Lomas. Despite this inauspicious start to his career he was played from the start four days later at Maine Road as City were beaten 2–0 by Everton. He went on to feature as the "Citizens" main back-up player, making 16 Premier League starts and five substitute appearances during the 1995–96 relegation season. He began the 1996–97 season as a first team regular under manager Alan Ball after midfielder Garry Flitcroft had left the club. He reflected about the first team opportunities, saying: "I was very young and was playing well in the youth team, the first team weren't doing so well and I kind of got fast-tracked into the squad. I got a chance and did okay. I played quite a lot that season which was fantastic. Alan was the manager and he gave me a chance. It was a great club and to be at that age and go from nowhere to the first team was pretty special." However Ball was sacked and his successor Steve Coppell and Coppell's successor Frank Clark kept Brown out of the starting line-up. He was instead loaned out to his home town club Hartlepool United in March 1997, and featured in six Third Division matches at Victoria Park under Mick Tait's stewardship. He scored his first goal in the Football League for "Pools", opening the scoring in a 2–1 win over Darlington at Feethams on 19 April. Brown worked his way back into the "Sky Blues" starting eleven midway through the 1997–98 season, and scored his first goal for the club in the FA Cup on 3 January in a 2–0 win over Bradford City. In total he made 27 appearances during the 1997–98 campaign as City were relegated out of the First Division. One of the few causes for optimism during a bad spell for the club, he was named as the club's Player