Edward Gibson (27 November 1927 – 18 January 2018), also known by the nickname of "Eppie", was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. He played at representative level for England and

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

, and at club level for Workington Town, as a , or , and was player-coach (later coach only) for Whitehaven.

Background

Gibson was born in Northumberland. The son of professional soccer player

Ted Gibson Ted Gibson is a celebrity hairdresser with a salon in New York City. He is the hair expert on the cable show '' What Not to Wear''. Notable clients include Anne Hathaway, Renée Zellweger, Kate Gosselin, Zoe Saldana, Ashley Greene and the fashion ...

, he was raised in

Ellenborough Ellenborough could refer to: * Ellenborough, Cumbria, England * Ellenborough, New South Wales, Australia * Ellenborough Park, Weston-super-Mare, a park in Somerset, England * Baron Ellenborough Baron Ellenborough, of Ellenborough in the County ...

. After attending Cockermouth Grammar School, Gibson went to Loughborough Teacher Training College where captained the rugby union team. He won a cap for

Cumberland and Westmorland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 1974 ...

, and also played for the English Universities team. Between 1947 and 1949 he was a national serviceman in the 1st Battalion East Lancashire Regiment.

Playing career

Despite being in the army for the first two years of his career Gibson signed for Workington Town in June 1947, aged 19. Playing at stand-off he made an immediate impact and before the end of the season he had been selected for the first of an eventual 17 caps for

, and was selected to play for England, making his international début in a 20–15 victory against France at Fartown, Huddersfield. Two more caps followed in 1951 in England's 35–10 defeat by the Other Nationalities at Central Park, Wigan; and in a 35–11 victory over Wales at Knowsley Road, St Helens. Eppie Gibson played in

's 5-4 victory over

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in the

1948–49 Kangaroo tour of Great Britain and France The 1948–49 Kangaroo tour was the seventh Kangaroo tour, in which the Australian national rugby league team travelled to Great Britain and France and played thirty-seven matches, including the Ashes series (rugby league), Ashes series of three Ru ...

match at the Recreation Ground, Whitehaven on Wednesday 13 October 1948, in front of a crowd of 8,818. Workington won their first (and to date only) Championship in 1950–51; Gibson scored two tries in the Championship Final in the 26–11 victory over Warrington at Maine Road. The following season Gibson played at centre as Workington won the Challenge Cup in 1952 (the first time in the club's history) as they beat Featherstone Rovers 18–10 at Wembley Stadium, London on Saturday 19 April 1952, in front of a crowd of 72,093. A fourth and final England cap came in 1953 in a 30–22 victory against the Other Nationalities at Central Park, Wigan. In 1955 Workington played in another

Challenge Cup final The Challenge Cup of Rugby league was instituted in the 1896–97 Northern Rugby Football Union season, 1896–97 and the final was contested between Batley Bulldogs, Batley and St Helens R.F.C., St. Helens at Headingley Rugby Stadium, Headingley, ...

with Gibson at centre and although he scored a try, Workington lost 21–12 to

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at Wembley on 30 April before a crowd of 66,513. At the end of the 1956–57 season during which he had been granted a

testimonial In promotion and advertising, a testimonial or show consists of a person's written or spoken statement extolling the virtue of a product. The term "testimonial" most commonly applies to the sales-pitches attributed to ordinary citizens, where ...

Gibson left Workington to become player-coach at nearby rival Whitehaven. During his 10 years at Workington he appeared for the club 335 times, scoring 145 tries and kicking 19 goals. Gibson succeeded

Neville Emery Neville may refer to: Places *Neville, New South Wales, Australia *Neville, Saskatchewan, Canada *Néville, in the Seine-Maritime department, France *Néville-sur-Mer, in the Manche department, France *Neville, Ohio, USA *Neville Township, Penns ...

as coach at Whitehaven and continued to play until the end of the 1960–61 season during which he played 88 times and scored 20 tries as well as coaching the team to the quarter-finals of the

1959–60 Challenge Cup The 1959–60 Challenge Cup was the 59th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Final The 1959–60 Challenge Cup tournament ended in a final between Wak ...

, and to sixth place in the league in 1959–60, Whitehaven's highest ever finish in the league. His last match was against Workington on 3 April 1961 after which he retired from playing. The 1961–62 season did not go well for Whitehaven and Gibson stepped down as coach in 1962 to be replaced by

Jim Brough James Wasdale Brough (5 November 1903 – 16 September 1986), also known by the nickname of 'Gentleman Jim' , was an English dual-code international rugby union, association football (soccer) footballer, and professional rugby league football ...

. In 1971 after several season away from the professional game, Gibson returned to Workington as coach for two seasons.

Personal life

After leaving the army in 1949 Gibson became a secondary school teacher in the Whitehaven area where he met his wife, Marie. While teaching he was a founder of the

English Schools Rugby League English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, and coached the first English schools team which played France in 1967. He was a member of the board of directors of Whitehaven R.L.F.C in the 1980s, and was named as one of the club's "Immortals" in 1998. Gibson died on 18 January 2018.

References

External links

30 April 1955 Photograph of Workington Town
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, Edward 1927 births 2018 deaths Cumberland rugby league team players England national rugby league team players English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Rugby league centres Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league players from Northumberland Whitehaven R.L.F.C. coaches Whitehaven R.L.F.C. players Workington Town coaches Workington Town players