John O'Rourke

John O'Rourke

John O’ROURKE

England schools and youth international forward John seemed to have lost his way after failing to gain a first team spot at either Arsenal or Chelsea so reluctantly accepted an offer to move to Luton in December 1963.

John became a teenage sensation at Kenilworth Road banging in 22 goals in only 23 appearances in 1963-64 to save the Town from seemingly certain relegation to Division Four. Badly injured on the opening day of the following campaign he was back to his best in 1965-66 netting 32 times before an inevitable big money move to Middlesbrough.

A brilliant header of a ball, John helped the Teesiders to promotion, then did the same for Ipswich, and played for Coventry in their only European season. After finishing his League career with Bournemouth, John became a newsagent in Highcliffe before passing away in 2016.