GORDON PRITCHARD (September 26, 1954 – May 15, 2025)
GORDON PRITCHARD was a son of the Welsh Valleys who played for both Cardiff City/Bridgend Blue Dragons and his country – and Cumbria as well.
For perhaps the pinnacle of his Rugby League career was a spell at Barrow, during which he twice represented Wales and twice played for his club’s county.
Versatile back Pritchard, who has died aged 70 following an illness, also had spells at Leeds, Bradford Northern, Huddersfield and Sheffield Eagles, as well as featuring for New Zealand club Eastern Suburbs (from Christchurch) in the Canterbury Rugby League competition.
He joined Barrow from Bradford for £2,500 in November 1977, playing 27 times and helping the club claim an immediate return to the top flight following relegation.
Before a £3,000 move to Huddersfield in October 1978, Pritchard scored nine tries in 27 Barrow appearances, played for Wales in the 29-7 win over France at Naughton Park, Widnes and 60-13 defeat by England at Knowsley Road, St Helens during the 1977-78 European Championship, and twice turned out for Cumbria.
His sporting roots were in football (he had trials for Manchester United as a teenager) and rugby union, and while working in the police, he had spells at leading clubs Cardiff and Newport, from whom Leeds signed him in 1974.
One of the few former Rugby League players to be allowed to lead a union club before the code became professional in 1995, Pritchard later coached at Pontypool, Tondu (from Bridgend), Bristol, Caerphilly (a leading force in the pre-regional era) and Machen (from Newport).
Having been signed for Leeds by legendary coach Roy Francis, he struggled to establish himself at Headingley, and was loaned to Bramley ahead of his 1976 switch to Bradford, where he played 30 times before Barrow came calling.
He was part of the Huddersfield side who narrowly missed out on promotion from the Second Division in 1980-81 before Cardiff paid £3,000 to add him to the squad for their inaugural season.
Pritchard landed a field-goal in the club’s first match, a 26-21 Second Division defeat by Salford in front of 9,247 at Ninian Park, and the following season, made a third Wales appearance in the 20-15 defeat by England at Cardiff’s home ground.
While the club never took off as hoped, he stuck with the project for the full four seasons, the last of them playing out of Bridgend, and made 81 appearances, scoring 18 tries and kicking two field-goals.
His last outing was his sole appearance for Sheffield in their 32-18 loss at Leigh in September 1985, when the Eagles side also included Daryl Powell and Gary Hetherington.
Pritchard spent time coaching at Blackwood Bulldogs and later supported another Caerphilly amateur side Aber Valley Wolves, where his four grandsons played, two of them, Scott Pritchard and Carter Pritchard, becoming junior internationals.
Helen Treherne, general manager at Aber Valley Wolves, said: “Gordon Pritchard – or Billy Pritch as I fondly called him – was a true friend of the club.
“I’ll never forget the stories he told about being shunned by some Welsh rugby union clubs for becoming one of the infamous codebreakers and daring to leave Wales to play Rugby League.
“His son Grant coached here, all four of his grandsons played for us and his daughter Kirsty is a staunch supporter.”
Wales Rugby League president Mike Nicholas added: “Gordon was a great friend of mine. I brought him to Cardiff City Blue Dragons and was a big influence on the side.
“He was a true gentleman on and off the field and him being involved in Aber Valley Wolves showed he also cared about the future of the sport. He’ll be missed by all who knew him.”
