Horton John

 

Player John Horton 1

John Philip Horton

Position: Fly Half

Born: 11th April 1951 in St Helen’s Lancs.

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Achievements: Bath Captain 1979-80

Honours: Captain of  Somerset County XV 1987-88 making (36 appearances) England U23, England (13 caps)

Debut game: 29th September 1973 v Terenure

Final game: 27th April 1985 v London Welsh

Number of Appearances: 376

Career details:

A player with exceptional (mercurial) talent who deserved more England caps than he was given. A brilliant tactical and attacking player – devastating sidestep and dropgoal abilities. Playmaker supreme. He would often chip the ball over advancing opponents and catch the ball beyond them a tactic that is seldom seen now even against the modern press defences.

Helped to change the Bath style of play from a mainly forward orientated game to a game full of running, passing and “the unknown”

A schoolmaster, he gained 13 caps for England.

His final performance record was 376 games, 90 tries, 12 conversions, 125 drop goals and 8 penalties, giving total points of 908.

He was not treated well by the club when Stuart Barnes was recruited as a replacement and in consequence he left the club he had served so well and joined Bristol RFC.

John made 2 guest appearances after his retirement – 23rd April 1988 v Bedford and 12th October 1988 v Public School Wanderers

Along with Simon Jones he played for a while for Combe Down RFC .