John Richard Heaton Greenwood, (born 11 September 1940) is an English former

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

player and coach. A flanker, he played for Waterloo,

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancash ...

and . He later coached Preston Grasshoppers and England.

Biography

Greenwood was born in Chorley in

. He was educated at Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby and at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He played for Waterloo,

and

. In 1966 he made his debut for England against Ireland at Twickenham. In total he won five international caps until 1969, serving as captain in his last game, again against Ireland. He never won a game for England, drawing one and losing four. In 1973 he was sent to

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

by the Rugby Football Union on a coaching assignment, and while there was selected to play for The Scorpions, an East African invitation team. After this assignment he moved to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

to play for Rugby Roma from 1973 to 1976, becoming the Italian Championship's best try scorer in 1974 and 1975. So enamoured had he been by his time in Kenya that he persuaded his Italian club to tour East Africa in 1976. After retiring from playing he coached Preston Grasshoppers. He was coach of England from 1983 to 1985, an unsuccessful period for the national team. He remained president of Waterloo after his retirement. He is also involved in

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

, serving as chairman and coaching the junior sides of

Prestatyn and Rhyl Panthers Prestatyn and Rhyl Panthers are an amateur rugby league team based in Rhyl, North Wales. They play in the North Wales Conference. History ''Prestatyn and Rhyl Panthers'' won the North Wales 9s in 2012 and then joined the newly formed North Wa ...

since 2011, and is (as of 2015) on the board of directors of

Wales Rugby League Wales Rugby League is the national governing body for rugby league football in Wales. In 1907 The Welsh Northern Rugby Football Union was formed in Wrexham, but the English Northern Rugby Football Union refused it affiliation as they wanted th ...

. Greenwood was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2017 Birthday Honours for services to rugby.

Personal life

Outside rugby, Greenwood was the Assistant

Bursar A bursar (derived from " bursa", Latin for '' purse'') is a professional administrator in a school or university often with a predominantly financial role. In the United States, bursars usually hold office only at the level of higher education ( ...

and a geography teacher and head of rugby at Stonyhurst College. Greenwood and his wife Sue have three children: one daughter and two sons, one of whom is

Will Greenwood William John Heaton Greenwood, MBE (born 20 October 1972) is an English former rugby union player who played for Leicester Tigers and Harlequins and was a member of England's 2003 World Cup-winning team and the 1997 British & Irish Lions. H ...

, who also played rugby for England. Sue is a retired teacher who taught mathematics at Stonyhurst St Mary's Hall for over two decades. Greenwood caused embarrassment for Preston Grasshoppers Rugby Club in November 2021 when he arranged for Nigel Farage to speak at a sportsmans dinner at the club. When the club found out that the divisive former UKIP leader and Brexit campaigner was speaking, they cancelled the event. However, the story was covered widely by the national press after members tweeted that they were cutting up their membership cards in protest at the club being associated with Farage.

References

External links

Sporting heroes

Planet-Rugby stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenwood, Dick 1940 births Living people England international rugby union players England national rugby union team coaches English rugby union coaches English rugby union players Lancashire County RFU players Rugby union players from Chorley Rugby Roma Olimpic players Rugby union flankers Waterloo R.F.C. players Cambridge University R.U.F.C. players People educated at Merchant Taylors' Boys' School, Crosby Alumni of Emmanuel College, Cambridge Schoolteachers from Lancashire Officers of the Order of the British Empire