Fred Gardiner (rugby union)

{{Infobox rugby biography

| name = Fred Gardiner

| image =

| caption =

| full_name = Frederick Gardiner

| birth_date = {{birth date|1874|05|31|df=y}}

| birth_place = Keady, County Armagh

| death_date = {{death date and age|1921|06|07|1874|05|31|df=y}}

| death_place = Belfast

| height =

| weight =

| occupation = Linen merchant

| school = Lurgan College

| university =

| relatives =

| position = Forward

| repyears1 = 1900–09

| repteam1 = {{nrut|Ireland}}

| repcaps1 = 22

| reppoints1 = 15

}}

Frederick Gardiner (31 May 1874 — 7 June 1921) was an Irish rugby union international.{{cite news |title=Death Of Fred Gardiner |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0002911/19210611/047/0004 |work=Sport (Dublin) |date=11 June 1921}}

Gardiner was born in County Armagh and attended Lurgan College.{{cite news |title=Irish Rugby International's Death |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000325/19210609/027/0005 |work=Gloucester Citizen |date=9 June 1921}}

A linen merchant, Gardiner picked up work in Belfast after college and played for the city's North of Ireland club, from where he achieved his first Ireland selection in 1900. A versatile player, he was a back in matches for Ulster, but made most of his Ireland appearances as a forward. He was capped 22 times for Ireland and captained the team during the Home Nations in 1909, which would be his final year of international rugby.{{cite web |last1=Allen |first1=Nicholas |title=Gardiner, Frederick Thomas |url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/gardiner-frederick-thomas-a3423 |website=Dictionary of Irish Biography |language=en}}

Gardiner, later a referee, officiated the 1912 Five Nations match between England and Scotland, then became Test rugby's first substitute referee when he came on for the second half of that year's Springboks match against Ireland.{{cite web |title=Who Was The First Substitute Referee? |url=https://worldrugbymuseum.com/from-the-vaults/countries/who-was-the-first-substitute-referee |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001212420/https://worldrugbymuseum.com/from-the-vaults/countries/who-was-the-first-substitute-referee |archive-date=1 October 2022 |website=World Rugby Museum |date=28 May 2018}}