Former All Whites and Wellington Phoenix midfielder Tim Brown has joined the fight against COVID-19 through Allbirds, the company he co-founded after his successful football career.

The San Francisco-based Allbirds produces footwear made from recycled materials and natural products, turning Brown into a major entrepreneurial success story.

Brown and co have now become one of many business owners around the world trying to do what they can for medical personnel battling coronavirus.

In light of the recent outbreak, Allbirds has been providing free shoes to healthcare workers in the United States. 

“It’s a small thing, these guys are on the frontline of fighting this thing and we felt it was a nice way to acknowledge some of the hard work they’re doing,” Brown says.

“We had a valued customer of ours actually buy a bunch of shoes and start to give them out to medical staff in Wuhan. We thought it was such a neat thing that as this crisis started to escalate we thought, why not do it in America?”

Before moving into business, Brown made 30 full international appearances for the All Whites after debuting in 2004 and was a foundation player for the Phoenix, playing over 100 matches and captaining the team in the A-League. 

Article added: Monday 30 March 2020