Jack Gilmore

Soccer player
Inducted 25 November 2009

Jack Gilmore was born in Alnwick in Northumberland, England, in 1894.

He migrated to Australia in 1913, when he was 18 years old, and settled in Kurri Kurri. His early life followed a path that was familiar to many young men at that time; working in the mines, playing local soccer and joining the Australian Imperial Force (the AIF) to serve in the Middle East and Flanders during the First World War.

Jack spent his family life in Abermain, and enjoyed playing soccer at the local level for Weston Workers Bears and then at state and national levels. In its early years, the Weston Bears club was heavily influenced by its Geordie players, and Jack earned the nickname ‘Terror of the Geordies’ for his attacking prowess.

As an outside or inside left with impressive ball handling skills, Jack represented North NSW on a number of occasions before his war service. Following the war, in the 1923 test series against New Zealand, he became the first Weston player to be selected to represent Australia. He was also one of the scorers in that game.

In total, Jack played four internationals for Australia during 1923/1924, and in two of the games, against China and Canada, he scored two goals.

In the same period, he also played for NSW, and for the South Maitland association when it played matches against state and visiting international teams.

In 2007 Jack was posthumously inducted into the Hunter Region Sporting Hall of Fame, and was also recognised by the Weston Bears in the same year, its centenary, as one of the “Bears of the Century”.

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Plaque location

Jock Stewart Park, corner of Station and Second Street, Weston