Educated at Hookergate Grammar School in Gateshead, Jack Laybourne went up to Emmanuel College Cambridge and won his first football Blue in 1950, and in 1953 he played in the first Varsity Match to be played at Wembley Stadium. An inside-forward or centre-forward he played for Pegasus during their run to their first FA Amateur Cup final in 1951 but lost his place in the final to England cricketer Donald Carr as they beat Bishop Auckland 2-1 in the first Amateur Cup Final to be watched by 100,000 fans. He was, however, in the Pegasus team that beat Harwich & Parkeston in the final two years later and he scored one goal in the 6-0 win. He joined Corinthian Casuals at the end of the 1952-53 season and the following season won the first of his four England amateur caps against South Africa. He appeared in his second Amateur Cup final in 1956 but Corinthian Casuals were beaten in a replay by Bishop Auckland. Later that summer Jack played in both Great Britain’s games at the Melbourne Olympics and scored a hat-trick in the opening 9-0 win over Thailand which made him his country’s top scorer at the Games.
Great Britain