When a new Gordon cricketer from Green Shield through to First Grade celebrates a win for the team, they are faced with singing the “Gordon Song”. Often with the help of a sheet of paper they stumble through the verses and chorus with no idea of the history or relevance of the strange words they are singing.

The song itself was actually ‘put together’ by a prominent Gordon cricketer of the day, Gerry Elkan, who played for the club for eighteen seasons between 1957-58 and 1976-77 taking 402 wickets as a brisk medium pace bowler across all grades at an exceptional average of 14.40.

During a practice in the 1967 season, Dick Guy made a comment that he thought the club should have a song and Gerry, being in hearing distance, thought this was an opportunity for him. Having played rugby for Gordon and knowing their version of “A Gordon for me” he put together a number of verses and a chorus. The song caught on and has been song ever since to celebrate a win for any Gordon team.

Four Gordon First Grade cricketers who were playing at the time the song was written were included in the second verse and repeated throughout that first season as the ‘star’ players of the day. Over the years those names changed on a match by match basis based on the performance of the players in those teams.

The verse written for the first season included the line: “There’s Roley and Hedley, Brother L and PJ”. Those nicknames in fact were for Dick Guy (Roley), Brian Taber (Hedley), Lloyd Wilson (Brother L) and Peter Johnson (PJ).

 

 

Sadly, the Club has received the news this week that Peter Johnson passed away on 27^th March 2025 in Brisbane where he has lived for many years.

Peter, a left-hand batsman, played 12 consecutive seasons with the Club from 1960-61 to 1971-72, beginning in third grade at the age of 16 and making his first grade debut in the same season. While Peter’s best season was in 1968-69, scoring 664 runs at 31.62, his best score was a magnificent 134 not out in the 1964-65 season. Maybe this was the reason he was included in the song.

Overall, he scored 3,810 runs at 21.90 in all grades for Gordon including 2,759 at 20.44 in First Grade.  Peter also had a very good record for Gordon’s underage teams scoring 497 runs at 38.33 for the Green Shield team and 837 runs at 34.88 for the Poidevin-Gray team which is 5^th on the Gordon list of most runs in this competition. Peter was also an exceptional fielder with many of his teammates claiming he was the best in the first grade competition over the whole time he played.

With Dick Guy passing away in 2016 and Brian Taber in 2023, Lloyd Wilson is now holding the torch for the ‘gang of four”. Lloyd played First Grade for Gordon from 1967 to 1970 scoring 1,715 runs and one season in third grade in 1973 scoring 398 runs.

The words of the sone as sung in 1967 were as follows:

 

We’re proud to be part of the Gordon CC,

We’re fond of Bacardi and a schooner or three,

We play all our cricket in true Gordon style,

Trying always to win by a proverbial mile.

 

We’ll take on the Districts Waitara away,

Then off to Merewether at the finish of play,

There’s Roley and Hedley, Brother L and PJ,

It’s great to be Gordon down old Chatswood way.

 

(Refrain)

A Gordon for me, a Gordon for me,

If you’re not a Gordon, you’re no use to me,

The Randwicks are braw, the Dragons and all,

But a cocky wee Gordon’s the pride of them all.

 

We’ve even got members from most other States,

And all would agree we treat them like mates,

So to finish the song let us all sing the words

Of the famous old chorus all opponents have heard.

 

(Refrain)

A Gordon for me, a Gordon for me,

If you’re not a Gordon you’re no good to me,

The Randwicks are braw, the Dragons and all,

But a cocky wee Gordon’s the pride of them all.

 

For those interested in the history of the verses, Gordon at the end of the season during the 1960’s travelled to Merewether in Newcastle to play the local side. It just so happened that Gordon played Northern Districts at Waitara on the last Saturday in 1966 and the team travelled that night up the winding Pacific Highway for the match the next morning. It is reported that Bacardi and beer were the refreshments of choice at the time during the trip. The references to Randwick and Dragons essentially came from the Rugby team’s rivalry with Randwick and the cricket team with St. George.

As an interesting sideline to the story, Adam Gilchrist was so enamored with the song that he copied it for the 1990-91 Australian Under 19 team’s tour of the UK, with the chorus starting “An Aussie for me, an Aussie for me”. The team was in fact managed by Brian Taber, not a bad mentor for the up and coming Adam Gilchrist.

With the sad passing of Peter Johnson, it is a continual reminder of the legacy of the Gordon District Cricket Club and the wonderful men and women who have played for the club its 120 years and whose names have been part of the song at the end of a successful day’s cricket. Every Gordon cricketer should be proud to sing the song, respect their opponents and enjoy the camaraderie and friendship of their teammates.