Gerald Vernon Round ( 1939 – 1 February 1969) was an English professional

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 ...

footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. He played at representative level for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

, and at club level for

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 ...

, as a .

Background

Gerry Round was born in

Hebden Bridge Hebden Bridge is a market town in the Calderdale district of West Yorkshire, England. It is in the Upper Calder Valley, west of Halifax and 14 miles (21 km) north-east of Rochdale, at the confluence of the River Calder and the Hebden W ...

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, England. He died on 1 February 1969, aged 29, when his car hit a lamp post in Birkenshaw, near

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

Playing career

Club career

Gerry Round made his début for

in March 1958. Round played in Wakefield Trinity's 3–27 defeat by

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

Final during the 1959–60 season at

Odsal Stadium Odsal Stadium (known as Bartercard Odsal Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a multi-purpose stadium, multipurpose stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The stadium is currently the home of Bradford Bulls rugby league football club and ...

on Saturday 21 May 1960. He played in Wakefield Trinity's 38–5 victory over Hull F.C. in the

1959–60 Challenge Cup The 1959–60 Challenge Cup was the 59th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Final The 1959–60 Challenge Cup tournament ended in a final between Wa ...

Final during the 1959–60 season at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on Saturday 14 May 1960, in front of a crowd of 79,773. Round played in Wakefield Trinity's 19–9 victory over

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

in the

1961–62 Yorkshire Cup The 1961–62 Yorkshire Cup was the fifty-fourth occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held. Wakefield Trinity winning the trophy by beating Leeds by the score of 19-9 The match was played at Odsal in the City of Bradford, n ...

Final during the 1961–62 season at

on Saturday 11 November 1961. He played in the 12–6 victory over

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

in the

1961–62 Challenge Cup The 1961–62 Challenge Cup was the 61st staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Final Wakefield Trinity beat Huddersfield 12-6 in the Challenge Cup Fina ...

Final during the 1961–62 season at

on Saturday 12 May 1962, in front of a crowd of 81,263. He played in the 25–10 victory over

in the

1962–63 Challenge Cup The 1962–63 Challenge Cup was the 62nd staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. The final was contested by Wakefield Trinity and Wigan at Wembley Stadium in London. The final was played on Saturday 11 May 1963 ...

Final during the 1962–63 season at

on Saturday 11 May 1963, in front of a crowd of 84,492. He played his last match for Wakefield Trinity during the 1968–69 season.

International honours

Round made his debut for

in December 1959 against Australia, after only 29 senior appearances in rugby league football.Briggs, Cyril & Edwards, Barry (12 May 1962). ''The Rugby League Challenge Cup Competition - Final Tie - Huddersfield v Wakefield Trinity - Match Programme''. Wembley Stadium Ltd. ISBN n/a He won seven additional caps in 1962 against France (2 matches), Australia (3 matches), and New Zealand (2 matches).

Outside of rugby league

Gerry Round attended Rishworth School,

in the 1950s, before beginning a 3-year

civil engineering Civil engineering is a regulation and licensure in engineering, professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads ...

course at

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

in 1958.

References

External links

Video 'Rugby League Cup Final 1960' at britishpathe.com Video 'Wakefield Win Cup 1962' at britishpathe.comVideo 'Rugby League Final 1963' at britishpathe.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Round, Gerald 1939 births 1969 deaths English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players People from Hebden Bridge Sportspeople from Calderdale Rugby league players from West Yorkshire Rugby league fullbacks Wakefield Trinity players Road incident deaths in England Alumni of the University of Leeds 20th-century English sportsmen