Gary Thornton is an English

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 ...

coach, and currently head coach of

Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the League 1, the third tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs tha ...

. He has previously coached at

Hunslet RLFC Hunslet R.L.F.C. is a professional rugby league club in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. They play home games at South Leeds Stadium and compete in Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club was formed as a Pho ...

and

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. They play their home games at Wheldon Road (currently known as the Mend-A-Hose Jungle for sponsorship reasons) and compete in the Super League, t ...

U20s academy side from 2009 to 2012. in September 2022, he was announced as head-coach of

Playing career

As a player, he spent 4 seasons at Wakefield Trinity before joining Batley in 1990, after initially having a loan spell at 'The Mount' in the 1988–89 season. He went on to make 215 appearances for the club scoring 79 tries.

Coaching career

Gary spent five and a half years as head coach at

Batley Batley is a market town in the Kirklees district, in West Yorkshire, England, south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield, in the Heavy Woollen District. In 2011, the popu ...

from October 2003-April 2009(the longest serving Championship coach at the time), and also spent time as U21s coach at

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home fixtures at the DIY Kitchen Stadium, Belle Vue (Wakefield), Belle Vue and currently compete in the Super League, the top tier o ...

. Gary was Head Coach at York between 2012 and 2014, and

Doncaster R.L.F.C. Doncaster Rugby League Football Club is a professional rugby league, rugby league football club, based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. They play home games at the Keepmoat Stadium and currently compete in the RFL Championship, Champion ...

from June 2015 to May 2017. Has won the coach of the year award in respective Championship divisions: * 2006 – National League 1 (Now the Championship) Coach of the Year – Batley * 2014 – Championship 1 Coach of the Year – York

References

External links

Hunslet profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thornton, Gary 1963 births Living people Batley Bulldogs coaches Batley Bulldogs players Doncaster R.L.F.C. coaches English rugby league coaches Hunslet R.L.F.C. coaches Rochdale Hornets coaches Wakefield Trinity players York Knights coaches