George Clarke (footballer, born 1894) explained

George Clarke
Fullname:George Clarke
Birth Date:3 December 1894
Birth Place:Nantwich, England
Death Place:Willaston, England
Height:[1]
Position:Left half
Years1:1912-1914
Clubs1:Nantwich
Years2:1915–1924
Clubs2:Stoke
Caps2:156
Goals2:4
Years3:1925–1926
Clubs3:Crewe Alexandra
Caps3:2
Goals3:0
Totalcaps:158
Totalgoals:4

George Clarke (3 December 1894 – 30 July 1960) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Crewe Alexandra and Stoke.[2]

Career

Clarke was born in Nantwich and played for his home town club, Nantwich. He gained a losers' medal for Nantwich in the 1914 Cheshire Senior Cup final defeat to Sandbach Ramblers.[3] Stoke signed Clarke in the summer of 1914 for £125 plus the proceeds of a game between the two sides. He did not appear in the first team however until after World War I.[2] Throughout his career at Stoke he was a part timer combining football with his job of as tailor's cutter.[2] During the war he joined the Liverpool Scottish regiment and was involved in action in France. He was injured, suffering a broken leg but ironically it came playing football for the army.[2]

He recovered and returned to Stoke and became a regular in the side playing in five seasons for the "Potters" helping Stoke gain promotion in 1921–22.[2] He played as a hard working left half whose job was to win back possession of the ball, he did this for Stoke until he broke his leg again, this time in January 1924 against Leeds United in the FA Cup.[2] He never played again for Stoke and spent almost two years out of football before joining Crewe Alexandra. He managed only two matches for Crewe before retiring and became a scout instead.[2]

Career statistics

Source:

ClubSeasonLeagueFA CupTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Stoke1919–20Second Division30110311
1920–21Second Division41010420
1921–22Second Division42150471
1922–23First Division25010260
1923–24Second Division18210192
Total1564901654
Crewe Alexandra1926–27Third Division North200020
Career Total1584901674

Honours

Stoke City

Notes and References

  1. News: Few big transfers in the First Division of the Football League. Stoke . Onward . Athletic News . Manchester . 21 August 1922 . 5.
  2. Book: Matthews, Tony. The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. 1994. Lion Press. 0-9524151-0-0.
  3. Web site: RetroDabbers. Nantwich Town FC history on Facebook.