Gordon Riddick: player, groundsman and president

Gordon Riddick, 6 November 1943–24 August 2018, is remembered in Langleybury sources as a player, captain, groundsman, committee member and president. His contribution crosses the boundary between match performance and the everyday work of keeping a club going. Luton Town obituary; Langleybury’s memorial announcement.

Playing and looking after the ground

The July 1988 programme records Riddick sharing ground duties with Brian Davey. Its player portraits also attribute around 16,000 club runs to him by that time. That is an approximate career total as reported in 1988, not a final lifetime statistic. 1988 players and officials.

The club’s award sheet lists him as first-XI Player of the Year in 1975, 1978, 1981 and 1987. The four dates give substance to the broader tribute to his playing contribution. First-XI Player of the Year record.

Ground duties place those awards in a wider setting. The same person could be part of the side’s success and part of the work that made fixtures possible. The pavilion and ground history follows the facilities around which that service took place.

Later club roles

The club’s 2019 announcement explicitly identifies Riddick’s service as captain, groundsman, committee member and president. Luton Town’s obituary also identifies him as latterly Langleybury president. The available sources do not provide a complete dated sequence for every office, so this archive does not invent one. Club announcement; official football-club obituary.

Brentford’s obituary says he played at Lord’s for Langleybury. The occasion is not identified there. He is absent from the verified XI in the 1996 National Village final, so that general reference cannot place him in the 1996 match. Brentford obituary; 1996 scorecard.

Remembering Gordon

The club announced Gordon Riddick Sunday for 18 August 2019, with his family expected and a named bench to be presented. The surviving announcement establishes the planned event. A later photograph or report would be needed to confirm the completed installation and its details. Memorial-event notice.

The strongest account of Riddick’s place at Langleybury is therefore grounded in several records: the award years, the 1988 description of his work, the later list of roles and the club’s intention to remember him at the ground.