Former Gillingham goalkeeper Jason Brown is looking forward to working with Soccer Elite FA and has one eye on getting back into the game.

The 31 year old, who is living in Bromley, has found himself without a club this season after spells at Blackburn Rovers, Leeds United, Cardiff City, Aberdeen and Ipswich Town since leaving The Gills.

Despite not being attached to a side at the moment, Brown is already looking to the future and last week agreed a deal to work closely with Maidstone based Soccer Elite FA, helping coach some of their young stars.

Following in the footsteps of the likes of Andy Hessenthaler and Julian Dicks, Brown is hoping to pass on his wealth of knowledge from playing in the Premier League at internationally for Wales:

“At the moment, I’m not playing, but I have a real passion for trying to produce the next bunch of goalies and I believe it is a process that needs time, a lot of care and hopefully that’s what I will do.”

“What Soccer Elite have done down here in Kent is fantastic. Looking at the facilities they’ve got, it’s better than one or two clubs I’ve been at, so credit must go to them.”

“Kent and Gillingham have a special place in my heart, so when I spoke to the guys, it was a no brainer.”

“It gives me the opportunity to give something back to the people of Kent and to work with such a good Academy that is under no pressure to produce the kids and actually cares about the kids.”

Coming to work with Soccer Elite FA, Brown is hoping to draw on his experience to not only help the youngsters progress, but will be working closely with their coaches to ensure everyone benefits from his time in the professional game:

“Being a goalkeeper is a tough position and people feel that you can just stick a pair of gloves on, stick them in goal and they’ll be alright, but it’s not as easy as that.”

“Especially with the balls moving the way they do and the quality of players that are out there. I want to try and pass my knowledge on to the young kids and work with the Soccer Elite Academy to produce these guys.”

“The guys have allowed me to come in with an Ambassador role and allow me to write a syllabus for the kids that will see results.”

“Hessy was my gaffer at Gillingham, so hopefully I will be able to bring in other coaches down here from my association with other clubs.”

For Soccer Elite’s Stuart Bell, forging a partnership with someone with Jason Brown’s experience was a great opportunity and he’s hoping everyone benefits from the association:

“It’s all part of our expansion plans and we want to ensure that we invest in quality coaching, not just for the outfield players, but the goalkeepers as well.”

“Jason has agreed to be a part of the set up and actively be part of the set up. If you look at the papers, it’s always the strikers that go for all of the money, but if you look back in the records of teams winning Championships, the goalkeeper plays an integral part in that success.”

“Jason has all that experience you could possibly have and to bring that into Soccer Elite is second to none for us and gives us a different dimension.”

“Having players that have played at an international level in an Academy that is in Kent and for the people of Kent, I don’t think you could ask for anything more and we’re privileged to have Jason wanting to be part of Soccer Elite, our success and our future.”

“We have to make sure we pass the knowledge down through the coaching tiers and into the players so everyone benefits. We have got many venues now and Jason will be working alongside us at all of those venues, from the scholars down to the year threes.”

“That will see about 400 players and 80 goalkeepers benefit from Jason’s experience.”

Finding himself without a club at present, Brown told KSN how he hasn’t given up hopes of playing for Gillingham again and on a recent visit to Priestfield, he spoke with Chairman Paul Scally about the chance of coming back:

“I’m not retired and I’d like to keep playing, but this is my next passion. I’m unattached at the moment and I had a chat with the Chairman whilst I was there and I said if Gillingham were in need of a goalkeeper, I am keeping myself in a decent condition.”

“If there was an opportunity for me to go back there, I’d definitely look at that. I wouldn’t rule out playing a bit of non league to keep myself ticking over.”

“If I could find a club to get some games, I wouldn’t turn that down. I want to keep playing a I feel I have a hell of a lot left to give and speaking to Chris Coleman on a regular basis he said if I can get myself a club, I will be back in the Wales squad.”

To find out more about the work Soccer Elite FA do in Kent visit their website www.soccerelitefa.com and to keep up with Jason’s coaching clinics, follow him on Twitter at @jbprogkclinic

Pictures supplied by Jamie Webb.