Kieran Brown and why he has committed his future to Leeds Knights

That is why he put pen-to-paper on a new three-year deal with the team, as announced by the Knights on Tuesday night.

After proving himself time and again in NIHL National with the Knights, there are some people who say it is time for Brown to aim higher - the Elite League, maybe somewhere in Europe.

What some people just don’t get, though, is that, ultimately, Brown is happy where he is.

He’s done a bit of bench-warming up in the Elite League when at the Sheffield Steelers. It was expected, both by him and everyone else, given his age at the time.

But the pandemic came along and with it an opportunity to try somewhere different, no doubt seeing his opportunities limited where he was under head coach Aaron Fox.

Initially, it was Leeds Chiefs he signed with but, when that franchise eventually finished and was replaced by the Knights under owner Steve Nell as we came out of the pandemic, he was among the first players signed.

Having come through Bradford Bulldogs junior system in his hometown just 12 miles away there was a certain comfort to be had about coming ‘home’. Well, almost.

Since then, there has been no stopping Brown, or the Knights for that matter.

In their inaugural 2021-22 season, they came up empty-handed but once head coach Ryan Aldridge was persuaded to stay and given scope to build his first roster from scratch ahead of the 2022-23 season by Nell they have been unrivalled.

After three league titles, a play-off championship and National Cup, this season may see the Knights end up with nothing to show for their efforts for the first time since 2022.

But that is partly why Brown wants to stick around. As captain he has led his team through a period of stunning success and while this season has not gone as previously, the 25-year-old is keen to spearhead a return to winning ways.

That could still happen at the Final Four Weekend in Coventry on Sunday, April 19. If it doesn’t then the work begins again come 2026-27 with Brown and netminder Sam Gospel at the heart of it.

“There's nowhere else I'd rather be,” said Brown. “We've built something special here as a team and I want that to continue.

“We've won a lot together but lifting more trophies at the end of any season is always the goal - both for me and the organisation.

“That's essentially what drives me every day - the organisation, the fans and the direction that we're going.”

During his time with the Knights, Brown has consistently been their most productive player, even during the current campaign which has seen him miss more games than ever before through injury.

Overall, in 292 league, Cup and play-off appearances, Brown has scored a remarkable 306 goals and 302 assists.

For the first three years with Leeds he was the league’s leading point scorer, something he saw go to current Leeds team-mate Owen Sobchak last year when playing with Hull Seahawks. Brown came second.

Aldridge, who made Brown captain ahead of the 2022-23 season, said: “He gives us a chance to win every night and you know you’re always going to score goals with him around.

“He is obviously a massive part of this club and will be a key part of what we want to achieve going forward here.

“As we look ahead to next season, we know he will play a huge role in us looking to get back to winning ways.”