Lawrence "Laurie"/"Gilly" M. Gilfedder (15 May 1935 – 7 January 2019 ) was an English

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 ...

and 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 club level rugby union (RU) for

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

RUFC (in Walton,

), and representative level rugby league (RL) 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

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 at club level for

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 ...

, and

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staffor ...

, as a

goal A goal or objective is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan, and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to ...

-kicking , or .

Background

Gilfedder's birth was registered in

Warrington, Lancashire Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

, he was raised in Woolston and moved to

Stockton Heath Stockton Heath is a civil parish and suburb of Warrington, in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England. It is located to the north of the Bridgewater Canal and to the south of the Manchester Ship Canal, which divides Stockton Heath from La ...

after his marriage in 1955, he was a senior warehouse supervisor for Greenall's Brewery from 1960–91, he died, aged 83, on 7 January 2019 in

Warrington Hospital Warrington Hospital is a health facility at Warrington in Cheshire, England. It is managed by Warrington & Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. History The hospital has its origins an isolation hospital which was constructed on the site in 1893 ...

Playing career

International honours

Laurie Gilfedder won

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

s for

while at Warrington on the 1962 Great Britain Lions tour against Australia, New Zealand (2 matches), and France, and in 1963 against France. Only five players have played test matches for

as both a

back The human back, also called the dorsum (: dorsa), is the large posterior area of the human body, rising from the top of the buttocks to the back of the neck. It is the surface of the body opposite from the chest and the abdomen. The vertebral c ...

, and a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

, they are Gilfedder,

Colin Dixon Colin J. Dixon (3 December 1943 – 21 June 1993) was a Welsh rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and coach (sport), coached in the 1970s. He played club level rugby union (RU) foCardiff International Athletic Club ...

, Frank Gallagher,

Billy Jarman Samuel William Jarman (birth registered first ¼ 1887 – 15 August 1916) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1900s and 1910s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, and at club level for Leeds, a ...

and Harry Street.

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Laurie Gilfedder played , and scored a try, and three

s, including a penalty from the halfway line after one-minute ten-seconds, in

's 20–16 victory over

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...

in the 1965 Challenge Cup Final during the 1964–65 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 on Saturday 8 May 1965, in front of a crowd of 89,016, and played, and scored a

in the 2–21 defeat by St. Helens in the 1966 Challenge Cup Final during the 1965–66 season at

, London on Saturday 21 May 1966, in front of a crowd of 98,536.

County Cup Final appearances

Laurie Gilfedder played at scored a try, and two

s in

's 16–13 victory over

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

in the

1966 Lancashire Cup Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo ...

Final during the 1966–67 season at

Station Road, Swinton Station Road was a stadium in Pendlebury, near Manchester, England. It was the home of Swinton Rugby League Club between 1929 and 1992 and was widely recognised as one of the finest grounds in the Rugby League. Swinton moved to Station Road w ...

, on Saturday 29 October 1966.

BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final appearances

Laurie Gilfedder played , and scored a

's 5–8 defeat by

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...

in the

1967 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of the Republic of Vietnam ...

Final during the 1967–68 season at

Headingley Headingley is a suburb of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, approximately two miles out of the city centre, to the north west along the A660 road. Headingley is the location of the Beckett Park campus of Leeds Beckett University and Headingley ...

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 ...

on Saturday 16 January 1968.

Club career

Laurie Gilfedder made his début for

aged 16 years and 199 days against the Belle Vue Rangers on Saturday 1 December 1951, during his time at Warrington they won the 1953–54 and 1954–55

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 ...

, the 1953–54 Challenge Cup (in which he did not play), the 1953–54, 1954–55 and 1955–56 Lancashire League, and the

1959–60 Lancashire Cup The 1959–60 Lancashire Cup was the forty-seventh occasion on which the competition had been held. Warrington won the trophy by beating St. Helens by the score of 5-4. Background With again no invitation to a junior club this season, the to ...

. With 22 tries he was Warrington's leading try-scorer during the 1956–57 season (the only season from 1947 to 1961 that it wasn’t

Brian Bevan Brian Eyrl Bevan (24 January 1924 – 3 June 1991), also known by the nickname of "Wing Wizard", was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. He became the only player ever to be inducted int ...

). He played his last match for Warrington, and scored five

s in the 13-15 defeat by

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers (often abbreviated to Hull KR) are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Craven Park, Hull, Craven Park and compete in Super League, the top tier of B ...

Old Craven Park Old Craven Park was a rugby league and greyhound racing stadium in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Rugby league Hull Kingston Rovers moved from Craven Street in East Hull to a new ground called Craven Park in 1922. The club had pur ...

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...

on Saturday 1 June 1963, he was transferred to Wigan during August 1963 for a club record fee of £9,500 (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £382,500 in 2017). He made his début for

in the 10-3 victory over

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, ...

Central Park Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...

on Saturday 24 August 1963, he scored his first try for Wigan in the 22-6 victory over

on Wednesday 4 September 1963, following the rule change to allow of substitutions, along with

Chris Hesketh Christopher Hesketh (28 November 1944 – 10 August 2017) was an English World Cup winning professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, England and Lancashire as ...

he jointly became Wigan's first

interchange Interchange may refer to: Transport * Interchange (road), a collection of ramps, exits, and entrances between two or more highways * Interchange (freight rail), the transfer of freight cars between railroad companies * Interchange station, a rai ...

/ substitute in the 3-10 defeat by

at Naughton Park,

on Saturday 14 November 1964, he scored his last try for Wigan in the 40-0 victory over

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It is a port on the north-west coast, and lies outside the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park. ...

on Saturday 12 November 1966, he played his last match for Wigan Match in the 12-15 defeat by Swinton at

on Saturday 2 September 1967, he made his début for

during the 1967–68 season, and he played his last match for Leigh during the 1968–69 season.

Honoured at Warrington Wolves

Laurie Gilfedder is a Warrington Hall of Fame inductee.

Genealogical information

Laurie Gilfedder's marriage to Hilda (née Berry) was registered during first ¼ 1955 in

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: People * Newton (surname), including a list of people with the surname * ...

district. They had children; Dianne M. Gilfedder (birth registered during third ¼ in

district), and Lynne M. Gilfedder (birth registered during second ¼ in

district).

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilfedder, Laurie 1935 births 2019 deaths English rugby league players English rugby union players Great Britain national rugby league team players Lancashire rugby league team players Leigh Leopards players Rugby league centres Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Warrington Rugby league second-rows Rugby league utility players Rugby union players from Warrington Warrington Wolves players Wigan Warriors players 20th-century English sportsmen