John Richard Heaton Greenwood (born 11 September 1940) is an English former

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player and coach. A flanker, he played for Waterloo,

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

and . He later coached

Preston Grasshoppers Preston Grasshoppers Rugby Football Club is an England, English rugby union team from Preston, Lancashire. The men's senior team play in the RFU National League 2 North, a level 4 league in the RFU league pyramid. History The club was founde ...

and England.

Biography

Greenwood was born in

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth ca ...

. He was educated at

Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby Merchant Taylors' Boys' School, Crosby is a 7–18 boys private day school, located in Great Crosby on Merseyside. The school's motto is that of the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors: ''Concordia Parvae Res Crescunt'' (Small Things Grow ...

and at

Emmanuel College, Cambridge Emmanuel College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1584 by Sir Walter Mildmay, Chancellor of the Exchequer to Elizabeth I. The site on which the college sits was once a priory for Dominican mo ...

. He played for Waterloo,

and

. In 1966 he made his debut for England against Ireland at Twickenham. In total he won five international caps until 1969, serving as captain in his last game, again against Ireland. He never won a game for England, drawing one and losing four. In 1973 he was sent to

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

by the

Rugby Football Union The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the Sports governing body, national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby ...

on a coaching assignment, and while there was selected to play for The Scorpions, an East African invitation team. After this assignment he moved to

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

to play for Rugby Roma from 1973 to 1976, becoming the Italian Championship's best try scorer in 1974 and 1975. So enamoured had he been by his time in Kenya that he persuaded his Italian club to tour East Africa in 1976. After retiring from playing he coached Preston Grasshoppers. He was coach of England from 1983 to 1985, an unsuccessful period for the national team. He remained president of Waterloo after his retirement. He is also involved in

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

, serving as chairman and coaching the junior sides of

Prestatyn and Rhyl Panthers Prestatyn and Rhyl Panthers are an amateur rugby league team based in Rhyl, North Wales. They play in the North Wales Conference. History Prestatyn and Rhyl Panthers won the North Wales 9s in 2012 and then joined the newly formed North Wales Co ...

since 2011, and is (as of 2015) on the board of directors of

Wales Rugby League Wales Rugby League is the national governing body for rugby league football in Wales. In 1907 The Welsh Northern Rugby Football Union was formed in Wrexham, but the English Northern Rugby Football Union refused it affiliation as they wanted t ...

. Greenwood was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the

2017 Birthday Honours The 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours were awarded a ...

for services to rugby.

Personal life

Outside rugby, Greenwood was the Assistant

Bursar A bursar (derived from ''wikt:bursa, bursa'', Latin for 'Coin purse, purse') is a professional Administrator of the government, administrator in a school or university often with a predominantly financial role. In the United States, bursars usual ...

and a geography teacher and head of rugby at

Stonyhurst College Stonyhurst College or Stonyhurst is a co-educational Catholic Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing education for boarding school, boarding and day school, day pupils, adhering to the Society of Jesus, Jesuit tradition. It is ...

. Greenwood and his wife Sue have three children: one daughter and two sons, one of whom is

Will Greenwood William John Heaton Greenwood, Order of the British Empire, MBE (born 20 October 1972) is an English former rugby union player who played for Leicester Tigers and Harlequin F.C., Harlequins and was a member of England's 2003 Rugby World Cup, 20 ...

, who also played rugby for England. Sue is a retired teacher who taught mathematics at Stonyhurst St Mary's Hall for over two decades. Greenwood caused embarrassment for Preston Grasshoppers Rugby Club in November 2021 when he arranged for Nigel Farage to speak at a sportsmans dinner at the club. When the club found out that the divisive former UKIP leader and Brexit campaigner was speaking, they cancelled the event. However, the story was covered widely by the national press after members tweeted that they were cutting up their membership cards in protest at the club being associated with Farage.

References

External links

Sporting heroes

Planet-Rugby stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenwood, Dick 1940 births Living people England international rugby union players England national rugby union team coaches English rugby union coaches English rugby union players Lancashire County RFU players Rugby union players from Chorley Rugby Roma Olimpic players Rugby union flankers Waterloo F.C. players Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players People educated at Merchant Taylors' Boys' School, Crosby Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Schoolteachers from Lancashire Officers of the Order of the British Empire English expatriate rugby union players in Italy 20th-century English sportsmen