Gordon Brown (rugby player)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gordon Lamont Brown (1 November 1947 - 19 March 2001) was a Scottish international rugby union footballer. He was inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame in 2001. Born in Troon, "Broon frae Troon", as he was affectionately known, played lock forward for West of Scotland, Scotland and the British Lions.
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[edit] Family
Brown was from a sporting family, his elder brother Peter also played for and captained the Scottish side. His father, Jock Brown played goalkeeper for the Scottish football side and also appeared in the Scottish Open at Royal Troon alongside golfing greats such as Arnold Palmer.
[edit] Rugby
Brown stood 6' 5" (1.96 m) and weighed 17 stone (108 kg) at his peak. A product of Marr College and West of Scotland, he won the first of 30 caps for Scotland at the tender 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.
He was the only forward to play in both British Lions tours to New Zealand in the 1970s, 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.
[edit] Funeral
Gordon Brown died from cancer in 2001. His funeral was attended by former Scotland and Lions team mates and opponents from the whole rugby world.
[edit] External links
- Gordon Brown from Scrum.com
- Gordon Brown in The Scotsman newspaper
- Broon frae Troon by Jeff Connor (Scotsman newspaper)
