Brown was born in Burnley, Lancashire, and attended St Christopher's CE High School in Accrington. She began playing football at primary school, in a boys' team. Brown was assigned to the goalkeeper position: "They were reluctant to let me join in. It was a case of, 'OK, if you must play you'd better go in goal.'" After a few years of not playing in a team, due to The Football Association (FA) rules which prohibited mixed gender teams, Brown joined Accrington Ladies. Despite being younger than the required 14, Brown played local open age football for the club.