John Parry-Gordon (17 February 1945 – 3 November 2009) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. He played at representative level for England and Lancashire, and at club level for Warrington, as a scrum-half.[2]
 Parry Gordon (front) signing for Warrington in 1961 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | John Parry-Gordon | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 17 February 1945[1] Wigan, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 3 November 2009 (aged 64) Warrington, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 11 st 8 lb (73 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Scrum-half | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Background
editGordon was born in Wigan, Lancashire, although being known as Parry Gordon his first name was actually John, Parry being his mother's maiden surname,[citation needed] and he died aged 64 in Warrington, Cheshire, England.
Club career
editGordon signed for Warrington on his 16th birthday for a fee of £400,[4] and he made his début for Warrington on Saturday 26 October 1963, and he played his last match for Warringon on Sunday 13 September 1981. With 543 appearances, Parry Gordon is second in Warrington's 'Most Appearances In A Career' list behind Brian Bevan, who had 620 appearances, and ahead of Jack 'Cod' Miller, who had 526 appearances.
Premiership Final appearances
editGordon played in Warrington's 13–12 victory over St. Helens in the Premiership Final during the 1973–74 season at Central Park, Wigan on Saturday 18 May 1974.
Challenge Cup Final appearances
editGordon played scrum-half in Warrington's 24–9 victory over Featherstone Rovers in the 1974 Challenge Cup Final during the 1973–74 season at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 11 May 1974, in front of a crowd of 77,400, and played scrum-half in the 7–14 defeat by Widnes in the 1975 Challenge Cup Final during the 1974–75 season at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 10 May 1975, in front of a crowd of 85,998.
County Cup Final appearances
editGordon played scrum-half in Warrington's 2–2 draw with St. Helens in the 1967 Lancashire Cup Final during the 1967–68 season at Central Park, Wigan on Saturday 7 October 1967, and played scrum-half, and scored a try in the 10–13 defeat by St. Helens in the 1967 Lancashire Cup Final replay during the 1967–68 season at Station Road, Swinton on Saturday 2 December 1967.
BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final appearances
editGordon played scrum-half in Warrington's 0–0 draw with Salford in the 1974 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final during the 1974–75 season at The Willows, Salford on Tuesday 17 December 1974, and played scrum-half in the 5–10 defeat by Salford in the 1974 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final replay during the 1974–75 season at Wilderspool Stadium, Warrington on Tuesday 28 January 1975.
Player's No.6 Trophy Final appearances
editGordon played scrum-half in Warrington's 27–16 victory over Rochdale Hornets in the 1973–74 Player's No.6 Trophy Final during the 1973–74 season at Central Park, Wigan on Saturday 9 February 1974, played scrum-half in the 9–4 victory over Widnes in the 1977–78 Players No.6 Trophy Final during the 1977–78 season at Knowsley Road, St. Helens on Saturday 28 January 1978, and played scrum-half in the 14–16 defeat by Widnes in the 1978–79 John Player Trophy Final during the 1977–78 season at Knowsley Road, St. Helens on Saturday 28 April 1979.
Captain Morgan Trophy Final appearances
editGordon played scrum-half in Warrington's 4–0 victory over Featherstone Rovers in the 1973–74 Captain Morgan Trophy Final during the 1973–74 season at The Willows, Salford on Saturday 26 January 1974, in front of a crowd of 5,259.
Testimonial match
editGordon's Testimonial match at Warrington took place in 1981.
Representative career
editInternational honours
editGordon won a cap for England while at Warrington in 1975 against Papua New Guinea (interchange/substitute).[3] He was also selected for the England squad for the 1975 Rugby League World Cup. However, he did not participate in any of the nine matches.
He never played for Great Britain during his career, and is often regarded as one of the best scrum halves never to have been capped by the team.[1][5]
County honours
editGordon won seven caps for Lancashire while at Warrington.
Honoured at Warrington Wolves
editGordon is a Warrington Wolves Hall of Fame inductee.[6]
References
edit- ^ a b Hadfield, Dave. "Parry Gordon: Rugby league scrum-half regarded as unlucky not to play for Britain". The Independent. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
- ^ a b "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- ^ a b "England Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
- ^ Parsons, Mike (3 November 2009). "Breaking News: Former Warrington Wolves scrum half Parry Gordon has died". Warrington Guardian. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
- ^ Parsons, Mike (4 July 2006). "Parry Gordon". Warrington Guardian. Retrieved 24 August 2017.
- ^ "Hall of Fame at Wire2Wolves.com (archived)". wire2wolves.com. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 1 January 2018.