Gordon Brown (rugby player)
Encyclopedia
Gordon Lamont Brown was a Scottish international rugby union
footballer. He was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame
in 2001. His nickname is Broon frae Troon (i.e. Brown from Troon
) after his home town in west central Scotland. Brown played second row for West of Scotland
, Scotland
and the British Lions
. He is often considered "Scotland's greatest second row." He was the younger brother of Peter Brown, the son of footballer John Brown
, and the nephew of footballers Tom
and Jim Brown.
Richard Bath writes of him:
. His father, John
played goalkeeper for the Scottish football side
and also appeared in the Scottish Open
at Royal Troon
alongside golf
ing greats such as Arnold Palmer
.
He is also the nephew of footballers Tom
and Jim Brown.
Speaking of the brothers Brown, he thinks their skill was in their genes, but that Peter and Gordon were very different:
and West of Scotland
, he won the first of 30 caps
for Scotland at the age of 22 on 6 December 1969 against South Africa
, winning 6-3. He retained his place for the Five Nations
opener against France
but was dropped for the Wales
match for his brother Peter. Gordon Brown then went on to replace Peter Brown at half-time due to injury, and this was the first time a brother replaced a brother in an international match.
Winning 5 caps
, and partnered Willie John McBride
in the engine room of the scrum
in the 1974 Lions tour
to South Africa, during which he scored a remarkable eight tries and won a further 3 caps. He also played in a non-cap match against Fiji
at the end of the 1977 tour to New Zealand.
A major criticism of Brown was that he played better for the British Lions than his own country:
Unfortunately his rugby career came to a somewhat inauspicious end. In December, 1976, he was playing in a match between Glasgow and the North-Midlands, he was suspended for three months after getting into a fight with Allan Hardie, in which Brown chased Hardie, threw him to the ground and kicked him. The suspension meant that he missed three internationals, but was selected for the British Lions. Because of a string of injuries, he never played for Scotland again.
in 2001. His funeral was attended by former Scotland and Lions team mates and opponents from the whole rugby world.
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
footballer. He was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame
International Rugby Hall of Fame
The International Rugby Hall of Fame is a hall of fame for rugby union. It was created in 1997 in New Zealand and is run as a charitable trust with an address at Chiswick in London. Most of the trustees are also inductees. IRHOF accepts new inductees every two years...
in 2001. His nickname is Broon frae Troon (i.e. Brown from Troon
Troon
Troon is a town in South Ayrshire. It is situated on the west coast of Scotland, about eight miles north of Ayr and three miles northwest of Glasgow Prestwick International Airport. Lying across the Firth of Clyde, the Isle of Arran can be seen. Troon is also a port with freight and ferry services...
) after his home town in west central Scotland. Brown played second row for West of Scotland
West of Scotland R.F.C.
West of Scotland Football Club are a Scottish rugby union club from Milngavie, just outside Glasgow.-History:Formed in 1865, they played a founding role in establishing international rugby in Scotland and have provided a number of SRU Presidents and players. The club originated at Hamilton...
, Scotland
Scotland national rugby union team
The Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...
and the British Lions
British and Irish Lions
The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...
. He is often considered "Scotland's greatest second row." He was the younger brother of Peter Brown, the son of footballer John Brown
John Brown (footballer born 1915)
John Brown was a Scottish former association football player, who played as a goalkeeper. At club level he played for Clyde, Hamilton, Hibernian, Dundee and Kilmarnock, helping Clyde win the 1939 Scottish Cup...
, and the nephew of footballers Tom
Tom Brown (footballer)
Tom Brown is a Scottish former professional footballer who spent most of his career with Ipswich Town. He was also a Commando during World War II.-Youth:...
and Jim Brown.
Richard Bath writes of him:
- "A buoyant larger-than-life figure, Brown was an abrasive steamroller of a lock. Unmoveable in the scrum and unfailingly sure on his own ball at the line-out, he also displayed a dynamism in the loose [play] and an ability to look after himself when the going got tough. At 6ft 5in. and over 17 stone, Brown had trouble maintaining peak fitness, so it was hardly surprising his greatest moments came on tour."
Family
Brown was from a sporting family, his elder brother Peter also played for and captained the Scottish sideScotland national rugby union team
The Scotland national rugby union team represent Scotland in international rugby union. Rugby union in Scotland is administered by the Scottish Rugby Union. The Scotland rugby union team is currently ranked eighth in the IRB World Rankings as of 19 September 2011...
. His father, John
John Brown (footballer born 1915)
John Brown was a Scottish former association football player, who played as a goalkeeper. At club level he played for Clyde, Hamilton, Hibernian, Dundee and Kilmarnock, helping Clyde win the 1939 Scottish Cup...
played goalkeeper for the Scottish football side
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
and also appeared in the Scottish Open
Scottish Open (golf)
The Scottish Open, which has been sponsored by Barclays Capital since 2002, is one of the richer golf tournaments on the European Tour. It is currently played at Castle Stuart Golf Links in Inverness in the North of Scotland...
at Royal Troon
Royal Troon Golf Club
Royal Troon Golf Club is a links golf course located in Troon, South Ayrshire, Scotland. The club was founded in 1878, initially with five holes. Its Old Course is now one of the host courses for The Open Championship, one of the major championships on the PGA Tour and European Tour...
alongside golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
ing greats such as Arnold Palmer
Arnold Palmer
Arnold Daniel Palmer is an American professional golfer, who is generally regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of men's professional golf. He has won numerous events on both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour, dating back to 1955...
.
He is also the nephew of footballers Tom
Tom Brown (footballer)
Tom Brown is a Scottish former professional footballer who spent most of his career with Ipswich Town. He was also a Commando during World War II.-Youth:...
and Jim Brown.
Speaking of the brothers Brown, he thinks their skill was in their genes, but that Peter and Gordon were very different:
- "They inherited sporting ability, for their father was an international goalkeeper. They were both big, the young Gordon, being at 6 feet 5 inches a couple of inches the taller, and they were both natural ball-players. There the resemblance stopped: Gordon's play could have been recorded o film and used to educate any aspirant lock-forward. He was exemplary in his orthodoxy. Peter was an individualist, eccentric, surprising and brilliant. Not surprisingly he was a great SevensRugby sevensRugby sevens, also known as seven-a-side or VIIs, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players, instead of the usual 15, with shorter matches. Rugby sevens is administered by the International Rugby Board , the body responsible for rugby union worldwide...
player: I don't think Gordon shone at the short game. I doubt if it could rouse him sufficiently."
Rugby
A product of Marr CollegeMarr College
-History:Marr College was funded from the money left to the town of Troon by C. K. Marr. It opened in 1935.-Notable former pupils:*Ronni Ancona, actress*Tom Brighton, footballer*Gordon Brown, rugby player*Alan Hutton, footballer*Donald Jack, writer...
and West of Scotland
West of Scotland R.F.C.
West of Scotland Football Club are a Scottish rugby union club from Milngavie, just outside Glasgow.-History:Formed in 1865, they played a founding role in establishing international rugby in Scotland and have provided a number of SRU Presidents and players. The club originated at Hamilton...
, he won the first of 30 caps
Cap (sport)
In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...
for Scotland at the age of 22 on 6 December 1969 against South Africa
South Africa national rugby union team
The South African national rugby union team are 2009 British and Irish Lions Series winners. They are currently ranked as the fourth best team in the IRB World Rankings and were named 2008 World Team of the Year at the prestigious Laureus World Sports Awards.Although South Africa was instrumental...
, winning 6-3. He retained his place for the Five Nations
Six Nations Championship
The Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales....
opener against France
France national rugby union team
The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...
but was dropped for the Wales
Wales national rugby union team
The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...
match for his brother Peter. Gordon Brown then went on to replace Peter Brown at half-time due to injury, and this was the first time a brother replaced a brother in an international match.
Winning 5 caps
Cap (sport)
In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...
, and partnered Willie John McBride
Willie John McBride
William James McBride, MBE, better known as Willie John McBride is a former rugby union footballer who played as a lock for Ireland and the British and Irish Lions. He played 63 Tests for Ireland including eleven as captain, and toured with the Lions five times — a record that gave him 17...
in the engine room of the scrum
Scrum (rugby union)
In rugby union a scrum is a means of restarting play after a minor infringement. It involves up to eight players from each team, known as the pack or forward pack, binding together in three rows and interlocking with the free opposing teams forwards. At this point the ball is fed into the gap...
in the 1974 Lions tour
1974 British Lions tour to South Africa
In 1974 the British Lions toured South Africa, with matches in South West Africa and Rhodesia . The tour was a great success, the Lions winning 21 of their 22 matches and drawing the other. After winning the first three test matches, the Lions drew the final test to preserve their unbeaten record...
to South Africa, during which he scored a remarkable eight tries and won a further 3 caps. He also played in a non-cap match against Fiji
Fiji national rugby union team
The Fiji national rugby union team is a member of the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance formerly along with Samoa and Tonga. In 2009, Samoa announced their departure from the Pacific Islands Rugby Alliance, leaving just Fiji and Tonga. Fiji are ranked sixteenth in the world by the IRB as of 26...
at the end of the 1977 tour to New Zealand.
A major criticism of Brown was that he played better for the British Lions than his own country:
- "He was what is often called a player's a player. The average spectator, not good at seeing who wins the ball in the line-out for instance, could watch a match without being aware of Gordon Brown. Yet the fact remains that packs that contained him invariably did better than the same pack with a replacement. He was the supreme working forward, and the most important member of what may be the best front five Scotland has ever had... In contrast... it was a frequent criticism that he never played quite so well for Scotland as people had heard he had done for the Lions.'"
Unfortunately his rugby career came to a somewhat inauspicious end. In December, 1976, he was playing in a match between Glasgow and the North-Midlands, he was suspended for three months after getting into a fight with Allan Hardie, in which Brown chased Hardie, threw him to the ground and kicked him. The suspension meant that he missed three internationals, but was selected for the British Lions. Because of a string of injuries, he never played for Scotland again.
Funeral
Gordon Brown died from cancerCancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in 2001. His funeral was attended by former Scotland and Lions team mates and opponents from the whole rugby world.
External links
- Gordon Brown from Scrum.com
- Gordon Brown in The Scotsman newspaper
- Broon frae Troon by Jeff Connor (Scotsman newspaper)