Gary Thornton is an English

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 ...

coach, and currently head coach of

Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the Championship, the second tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs ...

. He has previously coached at

Hunslet RLFC Hunslet R.L.F.C. is a professional rugby league club in Hunslet, South Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, who play in Betfred League 1. The club was founded in 1973 as New Hunslet, they became Hunslet in 1979 and the club were the Hunslet Hawks ...

and

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England, that compete in the Super League, the top-level professional rugby league club competition in the Northern Hemisphere. The club have competed i ...

U20s academy side from 2009 to 2012. in September 2022, he was announced as head-coach of

Playing career

As a player, he spent 4 seasons at Wakefield Trinity before joining Batley in 1990, after initially having a loan spell at 'The Mount' in the 1988–89 season. He went on to make 215 appearances for the club scoring 79 tries.

Coaching career

Gary spent five and a half years as head coach at

Batley Batley is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. Batley lies south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield. Batley is part of the ...

from October 2003-April 2009(the longest serving Championship coach at the time), and also spent time as U21s coach at

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the c ...

. Gary was Head Coach at York between 2012 and 2014, and

Doncaster R.L.F.C. Doncaster Rugby League Football Club (RLFC) is a professional rugby league, rugby league football club, from Doncaster, South Yorkshire. They play in the third tier League 1 (rugby league), League 1. They have previously been known as Doncast ...

from June 2015 to May 2017. Has won the coach of the year award in respective Championship divisions: * 2006 – National League 1 (Now the Championship) Coach of the Year – Batley * 2014 – Championship 1 Coach of the Year – York

References

External links

Hunslet profileTop accolade for skipper WebsterBulldog Maloney wins cup accoladeBatley await Challenge Cup fateCoach Harrison commits to BatleyThornton accepts Wakefield postBatley 'defy the odds' – HarrisonThornton joins Castleford staff
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thornton, Gary 1963 births Living people Batley Bulldogs coaches Batley Bulldogs players Doncaster R.L.F.C. coaches English rugby league coaches Hunslet R.L.F.C. coaches Rochdale Hornets coaches Wakefield Trinity players York City Knights coaches