Brown became the first full-time Scotland manager in 1967. He was also the first manager to be given full authority to pick the team, which had previously been controlled by a Scottish Football Association committee. His first international match as manager was a 3–2 victory over the 1966 world champions England at Wembley, which led to Scots declaring themselves as "unofficial world champions". This game also saw Brown give his goalkeeping understudy from his Queen's Park days, Ronnie Simpson, his international debut at the age of 36. Brown continued as Scotland manager until 1971, but often found his squads depleted by club demands and results suffered accordingly. He won nine of 28 games played, and the team did not qualify for either the 1968 European Championships or the 1970 FIFA World Cup.