Brownbill came through the junior ranks at Anfield before signing professional forms after he turned eighteen. He only played once for the first team, in a League match away to Birmingham City on 15 September 1973. He was substituted by Brian Hall when Liverpool were losing 1-0 and Hall promptly scored the equaliser with just five minutes left. After leaving Anfield in February 1975, Brownbill went on to play 140 games in the lower divisions for Port Vale and Wigan Athletic. He emigrated to USA to play for Cleveland Cobras and then went home again to play semi professionall. He became player-manager at Warrington Town in 1989 and stayed there for six seasons, before joining Curzon Ashton for a year. He then had four seasons managing Runcorn in the Northern Premier League before another spell at Warrington. He stepped down in 2009 as the club's director of football after more than two decades of service.