Gordon Matthew Strachan (16 November 1947 – 3 May 2016) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

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 who was capped five times by his country.

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

Strachan was born in 1947 in Littlemill,

Ayrshire Ayrshire (, ) is a Counties of Scotland, historic county and registration county, in south-west Scotland, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. The lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Ayrshire and Arran covers the entirety ...

.Gordon Strachan
,

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

, retrieved 2010-12-04 After leaving

Ayr Academy Ayr Academy (Scottish Gaelic: ''Acadamaidh Inbhir Àir'') is an 11–18 non-denominational secondary school situated within the Craigie Estate area at University Avenue in Ayr, South Ayrshire. It is the sixth largest secondary school in South Ayr ...

, he played rugby for

Ayr RFC Ayr Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club. Its professional men's side currently plays as Ayrshire Bulls in the Super 6 competition; and its women's side play in the . The club also runs a "Club XV" which competes in the Tennent's National ...

and then

Jordanhill College Jordanhill College of Education was a higher education college in Jordanhill, Glasgow, Scotland. It opened as a teacher training college in 1921. The college merged with the University of Strathclyde in 1993, becoming its Faculty of Educati ...

.History of Ayr Rugby Club
", ayrrugbyclub.co.uk, retrieved 2010-12-04

Provincial career

He played for Glasgow District.

International career

While a Jordanhill player, he played five times for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

at number 8, his first appearance being in the match against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in March 1971. He received his final cap against Presidents XV in 1973. He returned to Ayr in the late 1970s, when he captained the team, and after retiring from playing, coached Ayr, taking them from the third division to the first. He later worked as a P.E. teacher at Kyle Academy in Ayr.Oswald, Nick (2003)
Caught in Time: Scotland’s rugby team, 1973
, ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'', 9 November 2003, retrieved 2010-12-04

Family

His daughter Shonagh was a member of girl band Lemonescent in the 2000s.Smith, Ken & Belcher, David (2003) "The Diary: Strip Show", ''

Glasgow Herald ''The Herald'' is a Scottish broadsheet newspaper founded in 1783. ''The Herald'' is the longest running national newspaper in the world and is the eighth oldest daily paper in the world. The title was simplified from ''The Glasgow Herald'' in ...

'', 29 August 2003, p. 20

Death

He died on 3 May 2016, aged 68, after suffering from

cardiac amyloidosis The heart is a muscular organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the tissue ...

.Vallance, Matt (2016)
Obituary - Gordon Strachan, rugby international capped five times for Scotland
, ''

'', 7 May 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2016

References

1947 births 2016 deaths Scottish rugby union players Scotland international rugby union players Rugby union players from East Ayrshire Jordanhill RFC players People educated at Ayr Academy Ayr RFC players Rugby union number eights Glasgow District (rugby union) players {{Scotland-rugbyunion-bio-1940s-stub