| Full name | Gordon Lamont Brown | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 1 November 1947 | ||
| Place of birth | Troon, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 19 March 2001 (aged 53) | ||
| Place of death | Troon, Scotland | ||
| Rugby union career | |||
| Playing career | |||
| Position | Lock | ||
| Amateur clubs | |||
| Years | Club / team | ||
| West of Scotland Marr College FP |
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| correct as of 5 March 2007. | |||
| National team(s) | |||
| Years | Club / team | Caps | (points) |
| 1969-1976 1971, 1974, 1977 |
Scotland British and Irish Lions |
30 8 |
(0) (8) |
| correct as of 5 March 2007. | |||
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. 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."[1] 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:
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Brown was from a sporting family, his elder brother Peter also played for and captained the Scottish side. His father, John played goalkeeper for the Scottish football side and also appeared in the Scottish Open at Royal Troon alongside golfing 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:
A product of Marr College 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.[1] 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.[4]
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.
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