John Barr Gordon (1861 – 1941)1939 Register (Find My Past) (registration and fee required).Lancashire Daily Post, 15 May 1941 (British Newspaper Archive) (registration and fee required). was a Scottish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

of the 1880s and 1890s. He played in the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...

with

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

and

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...

Career

One of the first Scotsmen to play for North End, Jack Gordon was working at Leyland as a joiner when he was first asked to play for the club in February 1882. He scored on his debut in a 7–0 win over Fishwick Ramblers, a local side who were then neighbours and rivals of North End. Yet, despite impressing, he returned home to Port Glasgow where he worked in the shipyards and played football for Port Glasgow Athletic. Two years later he returned to

Deepdale Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England, the home of Preston North End. Deepdale is "widely recognised as being the oldest 'continuously used' football stadium in the world, though this is contested". History ...

, the home of Preston North End, and after a handful of games at inside–right, switched to the wing where he turned up with Jimmy Ross. He scored many goals in North End's pre–League days, including five in the 26–0 win over

Hyde United Hyde United Football Club is a semi-professional football club in Hyde, Greater Manchester, England. Formed in 1919, they were renamed Hyde F.C. between 2010 and 2015 as part of a sponsorship deal with Manchester City.1888 FA Cup Final The 1888 FA Cup Final was contested by West Bromwich Albion and Preston North End at the Kennington Oval. Preston were strong favourites for the Cup, having set a record which still stands today by beating Hyde 26–0 in the first round, and wer ...

on the right–wing but was on the losing side. Preston North End lost 2–1 to

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

Kennington Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since it ...

on 24 March 1888. Jack Gordon made his League debut on 8 September 1888 as a winger for Preston North End against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...

at Deepdale. Preston won 5–2 and Jack Gordon scored Preston North End' second goal. Jack Gordon played in 20 of Preston' 22 League Championship matches. As a winger he played in a Preston North End midfield that achieved a big (three–League–goals–or–more) win on 11 separate occasions. Jack Gordon scored ten League goals in 1888–1889. His ten goals included a hat–trick on 3 November 1888 at

Trent Bridge Trent Bridge Cricket Ground is a cricket ground mostly used for Test, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nottingham. Trent Bridge is also t ...

in a 7–0 win over

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

. Gordon scored the Preston North End second, fifth and sixth goals. He also scored two–goals–in–a–match on 22 September 1888 when he scored North End' second and third goals in 3–1 win over

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

. He played in all five

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

ties including the 3–0 Final win over

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

at Kennington Oval on 30 March 1889. Jack Gordon achieved League Championship and FA Cup Winners medals. (registration & fee required) Jack Gordon played 134 first–team matches for Preston North End from 8 September 1888 until 24 November 1894 scoring 35 goals. 113 were played in League matches scoring 27 League goals. He also played for four seasons before the Football League commenced but can find no record of the number of games he played and goals scored from 1884 to 1888. In October 1891, he scored North End's first–ever penalty in a 4–2 win at

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

. He won a second League Championship Winners' Medal for season 1889–90. He also played in all seven FA Cup ties, in season 1892–93, including a semi–final (and replay) against Everton. Preston North End lost the replay 2–1, Gordon scoring Preston' only goal. He signed for Loughborough in July 1895 but only played for them five times (three League) scoring one League goal. He signed for Wigan County in 1897, a Lancashire League team. It is not recorded when he retired. Sadly, Jack Gordon developed congestion of the lungs and pleurisy and doctors had to battle for three days to save his life. After retiring as a footballer he moved to

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 ...

, where he succeeded in business and for a time he was a Billiards Room Keeper.

Honours

Jack Gordon gained the following honours during his playing career:- Preston North End *

(Champions): 1888–89, 1889–90 *

(Winners): 1888–89 *

(Runners-Up): 1887–88 * Lancashire Cup (Winners): 1886–87, 1892-93

Professional baseball

Gordon played professionally as a centre fielder for

Preston North End Baseball Club Preston North End Baseball Club were a short lived English professional baseball club, who played their home games at Deepdale, competing for the 1890 National League of Baseball of Great Britain. Preston North End Baseball Club Limited were for ...

in the

1890 National League of Baseball of Great Britain The 1890 National League of Baseball of Great Britain was the first, and to date only, professional baseball championship for the national baseball title of Great Britain. The National League's headquarters were located at 38 Holborn Viaduct, Londo ...

, but mostly was in the amateur team.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gordon, Jack Scottish men's footballers Port Glasgow Athletic F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Loughborough F.C. players Wigan County F.C. players 1861 births Men's association football forwards Footballers from Inverclyde People from Port Glasgow English Football League players 1941 deaths English baseball players