Gordon Lamont Brown (1 November 1947 – 19 March 2001) was a Scottish

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 ...

footballer. Nicknamed "Broon frae Troon" (i.e. Brown from Troon, his home town), Brown is considered one of Scotland's greatest-ever rugby players. Playing as a second row forward, he was an integral part of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

's tight five during the early 1970s, along with Ian McLauchlan,

Sandy Carmichael Alexander Bennett Carmichael MBE (2 February 1944 – 27 October 2021) was a Scotland international rugby union player.Bath, p123-4Massie, p169 Rugby Union career Amateur career Carmichael was a tighthead prop and part of the West of Scotla ...

, Frank Laidlaw and

Alastair McHarg Alastair McHarg (born 17 June 1944) is a former Scotland international rugby union player. He played at Lock for the national side between 1968 and 1979.Bath, p147 Rugby Union career Amateur career Like Ian McLauchlan and Gordon Brown who we ...

, which became known collectively as the Mean Machine. He also represented the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

on three tours with distinction. Brown was inducted into the

International Rugby Hall of Fame The International Rugby Hall of Fame (IRHOF) was a hall of fame for rugby union. It was created in 1997 in New Zealand and is run as a charitable trust with an address at Chiswick in London. Most of the trustees are also inductees. IRHOF acc ...

in 2001, which later integrated with the

World Rugby Hall of Fame The World Rugby Hall of Fame (formerly the IRB Hall of Fame) recognises special achievement and contribution to the sport of rugby union. The World Rugby Hall of Fame covers players, coaches, administrators, match officials, institutions and other ...

, into which he was inducted in 2015. He was also an inductee to the Scottish Rugby Union Hall of Fame in 2010.

Family

Brown was from a sporting family, his elder brother

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

also played for and captained the Scottish side. His father,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

played goalkeeper for the Scottish football side and also appeared in the Scottish Open at

Royal Troon Royal Troon Golf Club is a links golf course in Scotland, located in Troon, South Ayrshire, southwest of Glasgow. Founding and early years The club, which now has a total of 45 holes, was founded in 1878, initially with five holes. It lies adj ...

alongside

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

ing greats such as

Arnold Palmer Arnold Daniel Palmer (September 10, 1929 – September 25, 2016) was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Dating back to 1955, he won numerous ev ...

. 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:

Rugby

A product of

Marr College Marr College (Scottish Gaelic: ''Colaiste Mhàrr'') is a co-educational secondary school in Troon, South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is owned by the Marr Trust and is operated by South Ayrshire Council which was transferred to then Strathclyde Regi ...

and West of Scotland, Brown won his first

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 Scotland on 6 December 1969 against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

in a 6-3 victory at Murrayfield Stadium.Bath 1997, p. 127 He retained his place for the Five Nations opener against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

but was dropped for the

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

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. He was selected on the 1971 British Lions tour to New Zealand and despite two other second row forwards travelling, Brown achieved test selection. He went on the

1974 British Lions tour to South Africa In 1974, the British & Irish Lions toured South Africa, with matches in South West Africa and Rhodesia. Under the leadership of Willie John McBride, the Lions went through the tour undefeated, winning 21 of their 22 matches and being held to a ...

where he won five

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

, and partnered

Willie John McBride William James McBride, CBE, better known as Willie John McBride (born 6 June 1940) is a former rugby union footballer who played as a lock for Ireland and the British and Irish Lions. He played 63 Tests for Ireland including eleven as captain, ...

in the engine room of the

scrum Scrum may refer to: Sport * Scrum (rugby), a method of restarting play in rugby union and rugby league ** Scrum (rugby union), scrum in rugby union * Scrum, an offensive melee formation in Japanese game Bo-taoshi Media and popular culture * M ...

, during which he scored a remarkable eight tries and won a further 3 caps. He went on a third tour and played in a non-cap match against Fiji at the end of the

1977 British Lions tour to New Zealand In 1977 the British Lions rugby union team toured New Zealand. The Lions played 26 matches, including four internationals against the All Blacks. They lost the series against the All Blacks by three matches to one. The team played as the Briti ...

. A major criticism of Brown was that he played better for the British Lions than his own country. Although, on a Lions tour he was given the ability to live and train as a full time rugby player and, with world class teammates. Unfortunately his International 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. Prior to this, Hardie had kneed Brown in the face and proceed to stamp on the open wound on Brown's brow after the initial attack went unnoticed by the referee. The suspension meant that he missed three internationals and was banned from training at any rugby club. He trained daily at Ibrox stadium under the guidance of Jock Wallace of Rangers who put him through a gruelling fitness regime. Gordon remembered being made to sprint up and down the terraces at Ibrox until he was sick. After missing three months of rugby he was selected for the British Lions tour of New Zealand 1977. Because of a string of injuries, he never played for Scotland again.Massie 1984, p. 178 LP

Death

Gordon Brown died from

non-Hodgkin lymphoma Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include enlarged lymph nodes, fever, night sweats, weight loss, and tirednes ...

aged 53 in March 2001. His funeral was attended by former Scotland and Lions team mates and opponents from the whole rugby world. As reported by The Daily Telegraph, at a fundraising dinner held in late February 2001 for Brown due to his illness, he met with de Bruyn again.

Notes

References

* * Bath, Richard (ed. 1997) ''The Complete Book of Rugby'', Seven Oaks, * Massie, Allan (1984), ''A Portrait of Scottish Rugby'', Edinburgh: Polygon, *

Family

Rugby

Death

Notes

References

External links