Clifford Gordon

Clifford Gordon was born in Saskatchewan in 1927 but the family relocated to Whitby when he was 12 years old.  He lived in Whitby until his death in 1997 at the age of 69.

Clifford was extremely well known in Whitby, as he could often be found at the arena in his role as a sports reported for the local newspaper.  Clifford was associated with local sports for 25 years as a public address announcer, official scorer, publicity director, secretary-treasurer and ultimately as a radio and newspaper reporter.  Always an avid sports fan, it was through a chance meeting with Scotty Ormiston, then Sports Editor of the Oshawa Times, that Clifford began his part-time career writing minor sports reports for the publication. 

His first big story was the 1945-46 Ontario Junior C Championship win for the Whitby Red Wing Hockey Club.  In the 1950s, he reported on all but 3 games played in Canada by the Whitby Dunlops Senior A Hockey Team, the eventual first group of inductees into the Whitby Sports Hall of Fame.  He filed these reports to the Canadian Press and The Globe and Mail, as well as newspapers in Kitchener, Sudbury, and Kingston – all cities that had teams playing against Whitby.  Unfortunately, Clifford became ill and could not travel to Europe for the 1958 world championships with the Dunlops.  This would be one of his biggest disappointments.

In the 1960’s, the Brooklin Redmen Senior A Lacrosse teams won several National Championships and Clifford was there to report on these victories.

If one was to look at the personal scrapbooks of Whitby sports team members from 1945 to 1970, Clifford’s name would most likely appear as the author of their highlight stories.  His readership certainly recognized the excitement he brought to his game reports – Clifford wrote from the heart as Whitby’s biggest fan and sports supporter.  All of his stories would reflect something “our guys” did well, even in defeat – a player would have thrown a big bodycheck, made a spectacular pass, scored an outstanding goal, or made a major save.

Thanks to Clifford’s enthusiasm, more people would attend local sporting events and our teams enjoyed recognition for their achievements.  It was a magical era in Whitby sports history.