Lawrence "Laurie"/"Gilly" M. Gilfedder (15 May 1935 – 7 January 2019 ) was an 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 ...

and professional

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 ...

footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. He played club level rugby union (RU) for

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

RUFC (in Walton,

), and representative level rugby league (RL) for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

and

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, and at club level for

( Heritage № 533),

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

( Heritage № 625), and

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staf ...

( Heritage № 758), as a goal-kicking , or , i.e. number 3 or 4, 11 or 12, or 13, during the era of contested

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 ...

Background

Gilfedder's birth was registered in Warrington, Lancashire, he was raised in Woolston and moved to Stockton Heath after his marriage in 1955, he was a senior warehouse supervisor for

Greenall's Brewery De Vere is a hotels and leisure business, which until the late 1990s was a brewing company known as Greenall's. It used to be listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History Greenall's Brewery was fou ...

from 1960-91, he died, aged 83, on 7 January 2019 in

Warrington Hospital Warrington Hospital is a health facility at Warrington in Cheshire, England. It is managed by Warrington & Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. History The hospital has its origins an isolation hospital which was constructed on the site in 1893 ...

Playing career

International honours

Laurie Gilfedder won caps for

while at Warrington on the 1962 Great Britain Lions tour against Australia, New Zealand (2 matches), and France, and in 1963 against France. Only five players have played test matches for

as both a back, and a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, they are Gilfedder,

Colin Dixon Colin J. Dixon (3 December 1943 – 21 June 1993) was a Welsh rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, and coached in the 1970s. He played club level rugby union (RU) foCardiff International Athletic Club and representa ...

, Frank Gallagher,

Billy Jarman Samuel William Jarman (birth registered first ¼ 1887 – 15 August 1916) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1900s and 1910s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, and at club level for Leeds ( ...

and Harry Street.

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Laurie Gilfedder played , and scored a

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

, and 3- goals, including a penalty from the halfway line after one-minute ten-seconds, in

's 20–16 victory over

Hunslet Hunslet () is an inner-city area in south Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is southeast of the Leeds city centre, city centre and has an industrial past. It is situated in the Hunslet and Riverside (ward), Hunslet and Riverside ward of Lee ...

in the

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

Final during the 1964–65 season at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

, London on Saturday 8 May 1965, in front of a crowd of 89,016, and played, and scored a goal in the 2–21 defeat by St. Helens in the

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

Final during the 1965–66 season at

, London on Saturday 21 May 1966, in front of a crowd of 98,536.

County Cup Final appearances

Laurie Gilfedder played right-, i.e. number 12, scored a

, and 2- goals in

's 16–13 victory over

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

in the

County Cup The county football associations are the local governing bodies of association football in England and the Crown dependencies. County FAs exist to govern all aspects of football in England. They are responsible for administering club and player ...

Final during the 1966–67 season at

Station Road, Swinton Station Road was a stadium in Pendlebury, near Manchester, England. It was the home of Swinton Rugby League Club between 1929 and 1992 and was widely recognised as one of the finest grounds in the Rugby League. Swinton moved to Station Road w ...

, on Saturday 29 October 1966.

BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final appearances

Laurie Gilfedder played , and scored a goal in

's 5–8 defeat by

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the town centre the River Calder joins the ...

in the

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

BBC2 Floodlit Trophy The BBC 2 Floodlit Trophy (also known as the BBC 2 Television Trophy) was a competition for British rugby league clubs held between 1965 and 1980. It was designed specifically for television, and the then director of BBC2, broadcaster David Att ...

Final during the 1967–68 season at Headingley Rugby Stadium,

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

on Saturday 16 January 1968.

Club career

Laurie Gilfedder made his début for

aged 16 years and 199 days against the Belle Vue Rangers on Saturday 1 December 1951, during his time at Warrington they won the 1953–54 and 1954–55 Championship, the 1953–54

(in which he did not play), the 1953–54, 1954–55 and 1955–56

County League, and the 1959–60

, with 22- tries he was Warrington's leading try-scorer during the 1956–57 season (the only season from 1947 to 1961 that it wasn’t Brian Bevan), he played his last match for Warrington and scored 5- goals in the 13-15 defeat by Hull Kingston Rovers at

Old Craven Park Old Craven Park was a rugby league and greyhound racing stadium in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Rugby league Hull Kingston Rovers moved from Craven Street in East Hull to a new ground called Craven Park in 1922. The club had pur ...

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from the North Sea and south-east ...

on Saturday 1 June 1963, he was transferred to Wigan during August 1963 for a club record fee of £9,500 (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £382,500 in 2017). He made his début for

in the 10-3 victory over

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...

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on Saturday 24 August 1963, he scored his first try for Wigan in the 22-6 victory over

on Wednesday 4 September 1963, following the rule change to allow of substitutions, along with

Chris Hesketh Christopher Hesketh (28 November 1944 – 10 August 2017) was an English World Cup winning professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s. He played at representative level for Great Britain, England and Lancashire as ...

he jointly became Wigan's first interchange/ substitute in the 3-10 defeat by

Naughton Park The DCBL Stadium (historically known as Lowerhouse Lane and Naughton Park) is a rugby league stadium in Widnes, Cheshire, England. It is the home of Rugby League side Widnes Vikings of the Betfred Championship, and American football side Halto ...

on Saturday 14 November 1964, he scored his last try for Wigan in the 40-0 victory over

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England. Historically in Cumberland, it lies by road south-west of Carlisle and to the north of Barrow-in-Furness. It is th ...

on Saturday 12 November 1966, he played his last match for Wigan Match in the 12-15 defeat by Swinton at

on Saturday 2 September 1967, he made his début for

during the 1967–68 season, and he played his last match for Leigh during the 1968–69 season.

Honoured at Warrington Wolves

Laurie Gilfedder is a Warrington Hall of Fame inductee.

Genealogical information

Laurie Gilfedder's marriage to Hilda (née Berry) was registered during first ¼ 1955 in

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film * Newton ( ...

district. They had children; Dianne M. Gilfedder (birth registered during third ¼ in

district), and Lynne M. Gilfedder (birth registered during second ¼ in

district).

References

External links

Great Britain Statistics at englandrl.co.uk (statistics currently missing due to not having appeared for both Great Britain, and England)
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilfedder, Laurie 1935 births 2019 deaths English Roman Catholics English rugby league players English rugby union players Great Britain national rugby league team players Lancashire rugby league team players Leigh Leopards players Rugby league centres Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Warrington Rugby league second-rows Rugby league utility players Rugby union players from Warrington Warrington Wolves players Wigan Warriors players