Career
A Bohemian F.C. legend, he was the last amateur to have been capped for the full Republic of Ireland national team for 43 years until Joseph Lapira was capped against Ecuador in May 2007. A strong central defender, he was made captain of Bohemians in only his 2nd season at the club He was a born leader, so much so that Bohs broke with their tradition of having a different man captain the team each year and Willie kept the captaincy for 3 seasons in a row.
He made his debut away to Austria in a European Nations Cup tie that finished 0–0.
He started left back in a 2–0 defeat to Spain and earned his third and final cap at Dalymount Park in a 3–1 defeat to England. In he was voted Personality of the Year by the Soccer Writers Association of Ireland and was also awarded the Caltex Award for soccer.
Seán Thomas arrived as manager of Bohs in 1964/65 and turned things around. The perennial strugglers finished third in the league that season with Browne excelling at the back.
This was to be Willie"s swansong as he retired from football at the end of the season.
He made 177 appearances for Bohs in all competitions scoring 20 goals. Impressively consistent in any defensive position, Browne missed just four league games in his five seasons. Willie Browne died in October 2004.
Honours Representative Honours 3 Full International Irish caps 16 Amateur Irish caps 1 Ireland "B" cap 6 Inter-League caps.