John Parry Gordon (17 February 1945 – 3 November 2009) 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 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. 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 ...

under-24's 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

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 ...

, as a .

Background

Gordon was born in

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 was educated at Highfield School. He died in 2009, aged 64, in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

Club career

Gordon signed for

on his 16th birthday for a fee of £400, and he made his début for

on 26 October 1963. During the 1967–68 season, Gordon played at in Warrington's 2–2 draw with St Helens in the 1967 Lancashire Cup Final at

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 7 October 1967. He scored a try in the replay 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 2 December 1967, but Warrington ultimately suffered a 10–13 defeat. Gordon played a key role in the club's successful 1973–74 campaign, helping the club win four trophies during the season; he played in Warrington's 4–0 victory over

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Post Office Road and currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. Featherstone ...

in the Captain Morgan Trophy Final at The Willows,

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

on 26 January 1974, the 27–16 victory over

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 ...

in the 1973–74 Player's No.6 Trophy Final at

on 9 February 1974, the 24–9 victory over

in the

1974 Challenge Cup Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of President of the United States, United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom ...

Final 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 11 May 1974, and the 13–12 victory over St Helens in the Premiership Final during the 1973–74 season at

on Saturday 18 May 1974. During the 1974–75 season, Gordon played in

's 0–0 draw with

in the

1974 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of President of the United States, United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom ...

Final at

The Willows, Salford The Willows was a rugby league stadium in Weaste, City of Salford, Salford, England. It had a final capacity of 11,363 with 2,500 seats. History In 1900, Salford agreed a 14-year lease on of land belonging to the Willows Estate Company, named ...

on 17 December 1974, and played in the 5–10 defeat by

in the replay at

Wilderspool Stadium Wilderspool Stadium was a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England. The ground was Warrington RLFC's old ground before moving to the Halliwell Jones Stadium. History In 1898, Warrington RLFC moved to the Wilderspool Stadium. A 10-year l ...

on 28 January 1975. He also returned to

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

in the

1975 Challenge Cup It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

on 10 May 1975, but was this time on the losing side in a 7–14 defeat by

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, ...

. Gordon played in the 9–4 victory over

in the 1977–78 Players No.6 Trophy Final during the 1977–78 season at

Knowsley Road Knowsley Road is a former football stadium in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside. It was the home ground of St. Helens from 1890 until its closure in 2010. St Helens Town FC played their home fixtures at Knowsley Road from 2002 until 2010. For ...

, St. Helens on Saturday 28 January 1978, and played in the 14–16 defeat by

in the 1978–79 John Player Trophy Final during the 1977–78 season at

, St. Helens on Saturday 28 April 1979. Gordon's

testimonial match A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, particularly in association football in the United Kingdom and South America, where a club has a match to honour a player for servic ...

took place in 1981. He played his last match for Warrington on Sunday 13 September 1981. With 543 appearances, Parry Gordon is second in Warrington's 'Most Appearances In A Career' list behind

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 ...

, who had 620 appearances, and ahead of Jack 'Cod' Miller, who had 526 appearances.

Representative career

Gordon won seven caps for

while at Warrington, and played for the

under-24 team. Gordon was selected in the

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 ...

squad for the

1975 Rugby League World Cup The 1975 Rugby League World Cup (officially known as the 1975 Rugby League World Championship) was the seventh Rugby League World Cup, World Cup for men’s rugby league national teams and ran from 2 March to 12 November. Australia were the w ...

, but he did not participate in any of the nine matches. He appeared as a substitute in a game against

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

, but the match is not recognised as a full international. He never played for the senior Great Britain team during his career, and is often regarded as one of the best scrum halves never to have been capped at international level.

Honoured at Warrington Wolves

Gordon is a Warrington Wolves Hall of Fame inductee.

References

External links

Statistics at wolvesplayers.thisiswarrington.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Parry 1945 births 2009 deaths English rugby league players Lancashire rugby league team players People from Ince-in-Makerfield Rugby league players from Greater Manchester Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Wigan Warrington Wolves players 20th-century English sportsmen Great Britain under-24 national rugby league team players