Mike Brown: England legend reveals why he's retiring at the end of the season

Brown is apart of a trio of household names from England and Leicester Tigers, that have all decided to hang up their boots at the end of the 2024/25 Premiership Rugby season. Last month, England's all-time most capped men's player Ben Youngs announced his plans for retirement, with Brown, and England's most capped men's forward Dan Cole following the scrum half on his ride off into the sunset.

A record setting player in his own right, Brown holds the accolade of being the most-capped England men's fullback with 72 caps, as well as being the fourth most capped Premiership Rugby player of all time. However, all journeys must eventually come to an end, and in his 20th season of professional rugby, Brown's decision comes from a mental standpoint and restrictive squad limits, rather than whether he can still physically go at the top level.

The fullback explained how due to the changing budgets of the Premiership clubs, older players like himself, Youngs and Cole are becoming fewer and fewer across the league. Described as a 'luxury', Brown expects to see younger players take a greater precedence going forward for England's club game.

"I'm not retiring because I physically can't do it. I'm retiring because (I'm) more mentally in the ground, and other opportunities have arisen which signal for me to move on. I feel like there is still very much (for me) to offer of value. The last game I played in was Gloucester, for Leicester, I played pretty well. Even if I am being biased, maybe the finances in the game make players of our age a bit more of a luxury.

"Squads are clearly getting smaller, The money's getting less. Ben Youngs, Dan Cole they're on a lot of money, aren't they, so they cost a lot. So if squads are getting smaller, you probably want more younger players.

"None of those guys have dropped off. I mean, Ben Youngs is involved in most games and Dan Cole this year has too. But, then there is the physical side of it with Anthony Watson who had to retire because of injury. I don't think it (Brown's retirement) seems to do with the pace of the game."

The trio of Tigers make up quite the solid foundation of a rugby sevens set-up, with Brown joking as to how the other Premiership retirees could form a 'classics team'. Throw in the likes of soon to be retired Saracen Alex Goode, Harlequin Danny Care, former England wing Anthony Watson and the iconic Joe Marler, and you've certainly got a solid squad of fresh retirees that could still give it a crack on the sevens circuit.

"There's a lot of us in there, Goodey (Alex Goode), Anthony in the middle of the season. Just thinking about it there, we could create a nice classics team, we could start touring around and playing some games like that. I think we'd make quite a team, to be honest, if Anthony can now get out of a jog.

"For me, it's great to see how much all those players have achieved. I think it's worth celebrating how much all those players have achieved and how they've stayed at the top of the game for so long with that grind. They're a great example, whether it be Alex Goode, or Ben Youngs or Coley, all very different positions.

"What they've achieved and how they've managed to keep doing that for so long, it's definitely something to celebrate for this game. Now it's over to the young mob to go away and achieve what they've achieved, and break those records that they've currently got."

On a reflective note, Brown expressed his gratitude following an impressive playing career for both club and country. The 39-year-old earned his England debut against South Africa, all the way back in 2007, and went on to enjoy an international career that lasted up to 2018. Brown recalled how after making a handful of sporadic Test caps under former England head coaches Brian Ashton and Martin Johnson, it was the arrival of Stuart Lancaster in 2011 that got Brown firing on the international stage.

"If I look at my England time, I had an early couple of caps that didn't go too well. Then I was out for four or five years. But then a turning point with Stuart, who had me in couple of Saxons games, gave me that lifeline to come back in. Again, it's about taking opportunities, which I think I did. Then, you know, 70 odd caps later, I was still in there."

Brown has enjoyed a decorated playing career, with two Premiership titles and the Challenge Cup under his belt with Harlequins. However, when quizzed on what were his greatest memories, Brown picked out an era-defining Six Nations title triumph and a personal milestone he shared with his son at the Stoop.

"The first premiership with Quins, that was the first in their history. That's obviously a huge highlight with it, with a group that grew up together and came through. The very core of English players that had grown up together, with older international players added on.

"A stand out was winning the Grand Slam with England (2016 Guinness Six Nations.) We bounced back from that disappointing 2015 World Cup. Again, we're the same core three players (Brown, Youngs and Cole) that went through that disappointment to then achieve that, it's so hard to achieve for English team. To put that to bed a bit, that disappointment, it was a great achievement.

"Then being able to run out with my son for my 300th game for Harlequins, that's something I always wanted to do with my son as soon as he was born. It was amazing occasion. It was a Friday night game against Sarries, so it had all that hype around that as well. But then, to finish my career as a Premiership winner would be amazing. So, fingers crossed."

Having been a stalwart of the England camp for so long, Brown was more than familiar with Youngs and Cole long before he arrived at Leicester in 2022. The trio would often chat about their own club experiences at England's training base of Pennyhill Park, with Brown left wandering how he would fair, should he make the move to the East Midlands and bring his customary on-field fire with him. Brown explained how whilst he loved every moment of the 16 seasons at Harlequins, he could never quite shake the 'what if', which kept him attracted him to Welford Road.

"Coming to a club like Leicester, I never had any doubt that if I showed that (passion) they (the fans) would like me. Because this club is about the grit, the determination and never say die, never taking a backwards step, the aggression and physicality. That's what this club's foundations are built on. That's what this tradition and history of this club is built on as well.

"This is why Leicester is a club that I always looked at from afar, thinking, 'I feel like I could fit in and do a good job there'. I'd speak to people like Ben Youngs and Dan Cole at England camp. You're a bit jealous of what they've got here, being involved in this sort of club.

"So, I feel very lucky to have been able to have represented Harlequins for a big part of my career, which is such a great club with all that tradition in history. But, it's very different in terms of the environment, the culture and what they value. To then come here and join another great club with so much tradition and history, and feel like I have been a little part of that, that's also very different, culturally and environmentally."

Focusing the scope upon the soon to be retired Leicester Tigers legend, Brown had an abundance of praise for the one and only Dan Cole. Beloved by fans all across the Premiership, the 'Cola Bear' was the old-school grizzled veteran of the modern day rugby landscape and the 38-year-old prop will end his career as the most-capped Leicester Tigers player in the Premiership. Brown expressed his admiration for sharing a pitch with the stalwart of the England front row.

"What a great character and person, I've been lucky enough to spend a lot of time with him in England camp and also, since joining (Leicester) the last couple of years. He comes across as that grumpy, quite direct sort of character, but he's not really, I think he plays up to it a lot!

"He's highly intelligent, and he's a great guy. If you want to have a quick sit down with him, or have a joke or a laugh, you come away creasing up. He's a brilliant bloke, a brilliant team man when he's not playing and really competitive when he is playing. Definitely one of the greats in his position of the English game, at least. So, I feel very privileged to have played alongside him at international level and at club."

Whilst there has certainly been plenty of retirement talks around Welford Road this week, the time is by no means up just yet for Brown, Youngs and Cole. The trio of England legends are out to lead the Tigers to their first Premiership title since 2022, with all the focus being upon securing a space in the play-offs this weekend. Keeping in tune with the traditional Leicester grit of never taking a backwards step until the final whistle goes, Brown recognised how his career is not over until it's over.