Tom Brophy is an English former 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 1964 to 1966. In 1966 he swapped codes to become a

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 for Barrow.''Stars to spare in the golden period'', Rochdale Observer, 13 January 2003
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Early life

Tom Brophy was born on 8 July 1942 in Liverpool. He studied chemistry at Loughborough College, where he played for Loughborough Colleges, the forerunner of the

Loughborough Students Rugby Union Football Club Loughborough Students Rugby Union Football Club represents Loughborough University in rugby union competition. Of the British universities, Loughborough has unparalleled success, having won the BUCS championship (in its former guises as the BU ...

. He became a chemistry teacher at

Rossall School Rossall School is a public school (English independent day and boarding school) for 0–18 year olds, between Cleveleys and Fleetwood, Lancashire. Rossall was founded in 1844 by St Vincent Beechey as a sister school to Marlborough College ...

before his move into rugby league. In 1968 he had a daughter, named Sarah, who now works as head of English at

Scarborough College Scarborough College is an independent coeducational day and boarding school aged 3–18 years in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1898 and opened in 1901. The school has been an International Baccalaureate (IB) World ...

Rugby union career

Brophy made his international début on 8 February 1964 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

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

match. Of the 8 matches he played for his national side he was on the winning side on just one occasion. He played his last match for England on 26 February 1966 at

Colombes Colombes () is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. In 2019, Colombes was the 53rd largest city in France. Name The name Colombes comes from Latin ''columna'' (Old French ''colombe'') ...

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. Brophy's union career finished in 1966 when, on 3 October, he signed for Barrow. He had been due to appear in the first England RU trial at the end of the week.

Rugby league career

Within a year of joining Barrow, Brophy was in the team that made it to the 1967

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. This had been the first appearance in a decade. They lost before a crowd of 76,290 to

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England, who play in the Championship (rugby league), Championship. Featherstone is a former coal mining town with a population of around 16,000 and Rover ...

17-12 despite going into the game as favourites.Northwest Evening Mail, Published at 10:49, Saturday, 11 July 2009
In 1972 he signed for

Rochdale Hornets The Rochdale Hornets are a professional rugby league club from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, competing in the Championship, the second tier of European rugby league. The Rochdale Hornets are one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs ...

in an exchange deal that took Joe Chamberlain to the north Lancashire club. Here, Brophy did his best work in the centre, forming a good partnership with Norman Brelsford. Tom Brophy played right-, i.e. number 3, in

' 16–27 defeat by

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 ...

in the 1973–74 Player's No.6 Trophy Final during the 1973–74 season at

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

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 ...

on Saturday 9 February 1974. Brophy joined

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

in 1974, making 14 appearances for the club. He played in Salford's 0–0 draw with

in the

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

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 1974–75 season at

The Willows, Salford The Willows was a rugby league stadium in Weaste, Salford, England. It had a final capacity of 11,363 with 2,500 seats. History In 1900, Salford agreed a 14-year lease on of land belonging to the Willows Estate Company, named after the abunda ...

on Tuesday 17 December 1974, but was replaced by

Ken Gill Ken Gill (30 August 1927 – 23 May 2009) was a British trade union leader. He was the General Secretary of the Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section (TASS), from 1974 to 1988, when it merged with ASTMS to form the Manufacturing, Sc ...

in the 10–5 victory in the replay at

Wilderspool Stadium Wilderspool Stadium was a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England. The ground was Warrington RLFC's old ground before moving to the Halliwell Jones Stadium. History In 1898, Warrington RLFC moved to the Wilderspool Stadium. A 10-year lea ...

on Tuesday 28 January 1975.

Post-rugby days

Upon its opening in the early 1980s, Brophy became headmaster of St Gregory's Catholic High School in

, a position he would hold until his retirement in 2000. As of April 2017, he is the longest-running headmaster of the school so far.

References

External links

*(archived by web.archive.org
Back on the Wembley trail
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brophy, Tom 1942 births Living people Barrow Raiders players England international rugby union players English rugby league players English rugby union players Schoolteachers from Lancashire Lancashire County RFU players Loughborough Students RUFC players Rochdale Hornets players Rugby league centres Rugby league players from Liverpool Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union players from Liverpool Salford Red Devils players Heads of schools in England

Early life

Rugby union career

Rugby league career

Post-rugby days

Further reading

References

External links