John Philip Horton (born ) is a retired English

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 ...

player. Born in St. Helens, Merseyside John grew up in the Windle area of the town and attended the nearby high school, now known as

Cowley International College Cowley International College, formerly ''Cowley Language College'' and originally ''Cowley School'', is an 11-18 secondary school located on Cowley Hill, in Windle, St Helens, Merseyside. History Grammar school formerpart of the school was on ...

where he started playing both rugby league and rugby union. Playing Career After a brief stint playing for local side

Liverpool St Helens F.C. Liverpool St Helens Football Club is an England, English rugby union team formed from the merger of Liverpool Football Club and St. Helens RUFC. The institution is not to be confused with either Liverpool F.C. (playing association football) or ...

, his first semi-professional contract was at

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks is a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Originally founded in 1861 as Sale Football Club, now a distinct amateur club, they adopted the n ...

. Horton then moved to Bath to play professionally whilst teaching, making 380 appearances for the club between 1973 and 1985. He made his debut against Terenure in 1973 and captained the side in 1976-77 and 1979-80. During his time at Bath, Horton amassed a total of 80 tries and a remarkable 125 drop goals. He later played for

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

when Stuart Barnes joined from the West Country rivals in 1985. Horton was known as a mercurial playmaker and he went on to earn 13 caps 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 ...

between 1978 and 1984, scoring 12 points. John's international debut came at Twickenham in England’s 6-9 defeat by Wales on February 4, 1978. Horton's career highlight would undoubtedly be his steepling drop goals in England’s first win in Paris in 16 years back in 1980, a match which paved the way for and England Grand Slam. Horton was invited back to make two guest appearances in 1988, against Bedford and Public School Wanderers. Current Day As of September 2023, John still resides in the Bath area and spent his later years serving as a sporting director for

Kingswood School (''In The Right Way Quickly'') , established = , closed = , type = Independent , religious_affiliation = Methodist , president = , head_label = Headmaste ...

, a private day and boarding school in Bath, Somerset, where he formally worked as a teacher.

References

1951 births Living people English rugby union players Rugby union fly-halves Bath Rugby players Bristol Bears players Lancashire County RFU players Somerset County RFU players England international rugby union players {{England-rugbyunion-bio-stub