Brown first joined Bolton as a player in 1988 following a bargain £17,500 move from Halifax Town and went on to captain the club in the majority of his 334 games for the club.
In 1994 he moved to Blackpool as player-coach and it was here where he first linked up with Sam Allardyce in a management combination which was later to take Bolton back to the Premiership and beyond.
The 46-year old Geordie had a short spell in charge as caretaker-manager of the Wanderers following Colin Todd's departure as manager in September 1999 and has always harboured ambitions to go into full time management.
Last summer he was overlooked for the Burnley manager's job but has now struck lucky the second time around with a move to the Rams. A well respected and highly qualified coach, Brown is sure to be missed by the Trotters who have also lost First-Team Coach Neil McDonald to Crystal Palace this week.
Early indications are speculating that Brown's former Bolton manager Bruce Rioch will join him at Derby in some capacity. Rioch was a huge favourite at the old Baseball Ground in the 1970's and has had successful spells in charge of Bolton and Middlesbrough. The former Scottish international has been out of work since leaving Wigan Athletic in 2001 but Brown has never forgotten the input of Rioch during their days together at Bolton.