John Barr Gordon (28 April, 1861–14 May, 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 lea ...

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

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

with

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

and

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood (borough), Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England; it is the administrative centre of Charnwood Borough Council. At the United Kingdom 2021 census, the town's built-up area had a popula ...

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 that is the home ground of Preston North End. Built in 1875 and in use since 1878, Deepdale is recognised as being one of the oldest continuously used football stadium ...

, 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. The team's strip is red shirts and black shorts and their home ground is the 4,250 capacity Ewen Fields. Hyde United's record ...

. His pinpoint crosses led to Preston players scoring a large number of goals with their heads. Jack Gordon played in the 1888 FA Cup Final 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 (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

Kennington Oval Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark, a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between th ...

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 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

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 cricket, Test, One-day cricket, One-Day International and county cricket located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, just across the River Trent from the city of Nott ...

in a 7–0 win over

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

. 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 association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

. He played in all five

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

ties including the 3–0 Final win over

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league 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 level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

. 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 city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, 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 Year 189 ( CLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Silanus and Silanus (or, less frequently, year 942 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 189 for t ...

, 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 Port Glasgow English Football League players 1941 deaths English baseball players