Edward Gibson (27 November 1927 – 18 January 2018), also known by the

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

of "Eppie", was an English professional

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 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. He played at representative level for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

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 Workington Town R.L.F.C. is a semi-professional rugby league club playing in Workington in west Cumbria. Their stadium is Derwent Park, which they share with Workington Comets, a speedway team. They became Rugby League Champions in 1951 and ...

, as a , or , and was

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

(later coach only) for

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It is th ...

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. After attending Cockermouth Grammar School, Gibson went to Loughborough Teacher Training College where captained the

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 its m ...

team. He won a

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

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

East Lancashire Regiment The East Lancashire Regiment was, from 1881 to 1958, a line infantry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 30th (Cambridgeshire) Regiment of Foot and 59th (2nd Nott ...

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

, making his international début in a 20–15 victory against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

at Fartown, Huddersfield. Two more caps followed in 1951 in England's 35–10 defeat by the

Other Nationalities The Other Nationalities rugby league team are a rugby league representative team that usually consists of non-English players. They have also played under the name The Exiles and more recently Combined Nations All Stars. They competed in the first ...

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

, Wigan; and in a 35–11 victory over

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

Knowsley Road Knowsley Road in Eccleston, St Helens, Merseyside, was the home ground of St. Helens from 1890 until its closure in 2010. St Helens Town FC played their home fixtures at Knowsley Road from 2002 until 2010. For a period, the venue also hosted ...

, 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 A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. N ...

on Wednesday 13 October 1948, in front of a crowd of 8,818. Workington won their first (and to date only)

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

in 1950–51; Gibson scored two tries in the Championship Final in the 26–11 victory over

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F.C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest atte ...

. 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 Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England, who play in the Championship (rugby league), Championship. Featherstone is a former coal mining town with a population of around 16,000 and Rover ...

18–10 at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

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 Barrow 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

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 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, 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