| Edwin Clare | |
| Fullname: | William Edwin Clare |
| Birth Date: | 21 September 1883[1] |
| Birth Place: | Basford, England |
| Death Place: | Edmonton, England |
| Position: | Full back |
| Clubs1: | Kirkby Rovers |
| Clubs2: | Bentinck Colliery Welfare |
| Clubs3: | Mansfield Woodhouse |
| Years4: | 1904–1905 |
| Caps4: | 6 |
| Goals4: | 0 |
| Years5: | 1905–1906 |
| Caps5: | 15 |
| Goals5: | 0 |
| Clubs6: | Mansfield Wesleyans |
William Edwin Clare (21 September 1883 – 1944) was an English professional footballer who played as a full back in the Football League for Notts County.[2] He also played Southern League football for Brighton & Hove Albion.
William Edwin Clare was born in Basford, Nottinghamshire, on 21 September 1883, the son of a coal-mining contractor.[3] [4] He played local football for clubs including Kirkby Rovers, Bentinck Colliery Welfare and Mansfield Woodhouse,[4] and signed for Notts County in 1904. He made his debut at the end of the 1903–04 season, in a 2–0 loss away to Small Heath in the First Division,[3] [5] and made five more league appearances the following season.[4] He signed for Brighton & Hove Albion in May 1905. He began as a regular, but was displaced by Tom Turner, made no more appearances in the Southern League team, and left the club at the end of the season.[3] He later played for Mansfield Wesleyans.[2]
Clare also played cricket professionally. He joined Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club's ground staff as a 17-year-old, and played at least once for the club's Second XI,[6] [7] before continuing his career as a club professional with West Norfolk, Redcar of the North Yorkshire and South Durham League, and Ribblesdale League club Burnley St Andrew's, whose local newspaper described him as a "powerful-looking young fellow", "a fast bowler and good bat".[8]
In 1904, while a Notts County player, he received the Certificate of the Royal Humane Society for rescuing a child from the Grantham Canal:[9]
Clare died in 1944 in Edmonton, Middlesex.[2] [10]