John Eric Greenwood (known as Jenny Greenwood) was a rugby union international who represented

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 ...

from 1912 to 1920. He also captained his country. During what would have been the prime of his playing career he fought in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Early life

Jenny Greenwood was born on 23 July 1891 in Lewisham. He attended

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 independent, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

Rugby union career

Greenwood learnt his rugby at

, before which he had been a keen

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player. Whilst there he played in an unbeaten first XV in 1909 which contained five future internationals dubbed the 'Famous Five'. These five would all go on to play in the 1913

Varsity match A varsity match is a fixture (especially of a sporting event or team) between two university teams, particularly Oxford and Cambridge. The Scottish Varsity rugby match between the University of St Andrews and the University of Edinburgh at Murray ...

, (and also produced the captains of both

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

in 1919), and all served in the

. They were

Eric Loudoun-Shand Eric Gordon Loudoun-Shand MC TD (born Eric Gordon Shand; 31 March 1893) was a Rugby Union international who played for Scotland and captained Oxford University's Rugby side in the 1919 Varsity Match. During what would have been the prime of hi ...

and

Grahame Donald Air Marshal Sir David Grahame Donald, (27 July 1891 – 23 December 1976), often known as Sir Grahame Donald, was a Royal Naval Air Service pilot during the First World War, a senior Royal Air Force (RAF) officer between the wars and a senior ...

who both went on to play for Scotland,

William David Doherty William David Doherty, M.A., M.Ch., F.R.C.S., known as George Doherty was a medical superintendent of Guy's Hospital, London, and a former captain of the Ireland national rugby union team. Early life William David Doherty was born on 17 July ...

who went on to play for and captain Ireland, Greenwood himself who went on to play for and captain England and the record-breaking

Cyril Lowe Cyril Nelson "Kit" Lowe, (7 October 1891 – 6 February 1983) was an English rugby union footballer who held England's international try scoring record for over sixty years, a First World War flying ace credited with nine victories, and suppose ...

. From Dulwich College, Greenwood went to

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

. He was selected to play as a Centre in the 1912 varsity match, and also made his international debut on 8 April 1912 at

Parc des Princes Parc des Princes () is an all-seater stadium, all-seater Association football, football stadium in Paris, France, in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin ...

in the

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 ...

match. He was again selected for the 1913 varsity match and again played for England. On his team were two of his former school teammates, CN Lowe and George Doherty, on the opposing side were Eric Loudoun-Shand and Graham Donald also from Dulwich. His international career was then interrupted by the outbreak of the

. He did return to international rugby, and also made a return for

in 1919. He captained the side and his opposing captain was his former school teammate Loudoun-Shand. It was due to a chance encounter with Eric Loudoun-Shand that Greenwood was allowed to captain the Cambridge side that year. It was within the prerogative of the Oxford captain to deny Cambridge the chance to field Greenwood, who had left the University just prior to the war. However, the long association proved to be to Greenwood's good fortune. Eric Loudoun-Shand played that match with a severely injured arm, an injury from the Great War. So bad was this injury that he later had to have the arm amputated.J.E. Greenwood, ''A Cap for Boots'', p98 (Hutchinson Benham:London) 1977 Of the 13 matches Greenwood played for his national side he was on the winning side on 11 occasions. He played his final match for England on 20 March 1920 at

Twickenham Twickenham is a suburban district in London, England. It is situated on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames since 1965, and the boroug ...

in the

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

match.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenwood, John Eric 1891 births 1975 deaths England international rugby union players English rugby union players People educated at Dulwich College Rugby union forwards Sportspeople from Lewisham Rugby union players from the London Borough of Lewisham Military personnel from London British military personnel of World War I