One of the club's greatest-ever goalscorers; only Roger Hunt has scoredmore in League games for Liverpool but all of Gordon's 232 Leaguestrikes came in the First Division - from 359 games, a fantasticgoals-per-game ratio. Gordon came to England as one of the youngestmembers of a South African touring side but chose to stay in thecountry, thankfully as far as Liverpool Football Club was concerned!
He played in 12 matches towards the end of the 1925-26 season,scoring 4 times, but that was just a taste of what was to come. Overthe next nine seasons, he missed very few games in League and cup andscored prolifically throughout that period.
It was a shame that this golden run coincided with a barren period forthe club because his contribution to the Liverpool cause was massiveand he deserved to end up with more than the handful of England andFootball League representative honours he received. He was such aconsistent performer that it is perhaps difficult to single out yearsthat were extra-special for him, but perhaps the two seasons when hescored 30 or more First Division goals (1928-29 & 1930-31) showedhim at his peak.
The 36 League goals he scored in the second of those two seasons set aclub record that would not be beaten (by Roger Hunt) for over thirtyyears. There were three hat-tricks that season in home games butperhaps it was the four goals he scored in an away match atHillsborough that gave him the most satisfaction?
Gordon moved to Aston Villa in January 1936 at the age of 31 and thenleft the Midlands for Yorkshire when he joined Leeds United a yearlater. He was still as prolific as ever, scoring FIVE times when Leedsbeat Leicester City in October 1938, and became one of the very few mento have scored over 300 times in Football League matches.
He was an all-round sportsman, having played cricket on over 50occasions for Lancashire. But soccer was his first love and it was nosurprise that he progressed from player to manager, which he did bytaking charge of team affairs at Port Vale in October 1946. He wasthere for over four years and saw them move to their current stadium(Vale Park) in 1950. With a promising managerial career still in itsinfancy, it came as a great shock when he died in Stoke-on-Trent on14th June 1951 at the early age of 47.
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