Background
The son of a boot repairer, Brain grew up in the South Melbourne area but boarded in Clifton Hill, which was in opposing team Collingwood"s recruiting zone.
The son of a boot repairer, Brain grew up in the South Melbourne area but boarded in Clifton Hill, which was in opposing team Collingwood"s recruiting zone.
Following Collingwood"s request to transfer Brain, South Melbourne named him in the senior side in 1928. A lightly built rover, Brain was one of the few Victorians in the South Melbourne side of the 1930s which was known as the "foreign legion". Brain initially retired football at the end of 1937, but then played a season under throw-pass rules with Victorian Football Association club Camberwell in 1938.