456 Doug Clarke

Biography

Right sided forward Doug Clarke joined the Tigers in November 1955 – a £2,000 fee was paid for Clarke, who had developed a strong reputation for goalscoring from the inside right position at Bury. The Tigers were struggling at the lower end of Division Two and Clarke’s signing, alongside fees paid for Bill Bradbury and Stan Mortensen, were designed to revamp Bob Brocklebank’s forward line and propel City back up the table. Clarke’s impact was immediate as he scored on his November 1955 debut against West Ham United, with Bradbury (on his fifth start) and Mortensen (also on his debut) contributing the goals in a 3-1 victory. The new forward line continued to score, Bradbury in particular, but City remained too prone to conceding goals at the other end and the defeats continued. The club remained rooted to the bottom of the table for the entire season and was relegated to Division Three North, with Doug’s seven goals for the season including an equaliser in a FA Cup Third Round tie against Division One side Aston Villa.

The 1956/57 season was Clarke’s first full term with the Tigers, City briefly challenged at the top of the Division Three North table after winning four of the first seven fixtures, but drops in form during September 1956 (six defeats in seven games) and around Christmas (four consecutive draws) saw the challenge fade and the Tigers ended up eighth. Clarke missed six games in the early weeks of the season but he was soon established as first choice inside right thanks for four goals scored in five starts during October 1956. He continued to score regularly and ended the season with twenty goals in all competitions, the best season of his career in terms of goals scored. Spirits were high for the 1957/58 season amongst the Hull City squad and while strikers Clarke (sixteen league goals) and Bradbury (nineteen league goals) delivered, a poor away record and continued defensive frailties saw the Tigers fall short again and end up in fifth place, thirteen points behind champions Scunthorpe United. In September 1957 Doug had his most productive day in football in front of goal, scoring four times in a 5-2 win over Halifax Town. In the second half of the season, especially once Welsh winger Johnny Stephens was sold, Doug was increasingly put on the right wing where his pace could be exploited more fully and his crossing ability developed, a move that led to him scoring fewer goals.

In the 1958/59 season the Tigers powered to promotion, albeit after failing to win any of the first four fixtures. New centre forward Colin Smith netted twenty-six times and Bill Bradbury struck thirty goals from inside right while Clarke contributed a further twelve goals from the wing, missing only five games all season. Doug scored braces against Doncaster Rovers in December 1958 and Norwich City in March 1959. For the 1959/60 season Clarke returned to Division Two, the level at which he joined the Tigers four years earlier. However the season was not a success as City again stumbled to relegation, Clarke scoring only three times and missing four matches in September 1959, his first prolonged absence from the City first team – between his debut in November 1955 and a heavy 0-4 defeat at Charlton in early September 1959, Clarke missed only 8 of 182 senior fixtures in all competitions.

Returning to Division Three for the 1960/61 season, Doug scored in his first three starts after missing the season’s opener against Colchester United and became an important part of the supply line for newly introduced teenage centre forward Chris Chilton. Doug started all five of City’s FA Cup Second Round ties against Darlington during November and December 1960, having also started City’s first ever League Cup tie against Bolton Wanderers in October 1960. Doug was still a constant in the City first team – he was ever-present during the 1961/62 season and missed only five league games during the 1962/63 season – but the goals were increasingly coming from centre forward Chilton and John McSeveney on the opposite wing, who struck twenty-two goals in 1962/63 season – both players benefited from Doug Clarke’s crosses. In the 1963/64 season Clarke started as first choice on the right wing but lost his place in the second half of the season. The same course of events happened in the 1964/65 season when Doug started the first eleven league games then was a support player for the rest of the season. The signing of Ken Wagstaff in November 1964 and Ken Houghton two months later put a further squeeze on Doug’s first team opportunities and he left City in the 1965 close season after nearly ten years’ service that placed him in the upper reaches of City’s most appearances table.

Douglas Clarke was born in Bolton and grew up during World War Two. In the 1950 close season he joined the groundstaff at Bolton Wanderers and played for the Trotters’ A team and Reserves, however by the end of 1951 he had drifted out of favour at Bolton and assisted Lancashire Combination side Darwen for a few games. In March 1952 Clarke signed professional terms with Division Two side Bury – a period of absence due to National Service meant that Clarke was not ready to make his debut for the Shakers until April 1954, he scored on his debut against Division Two rivals Nottingham Forest. Doug established himself as first team regular at inside right during the 1954/55 season and despite missing four months of football in the middle of the season he hit thirteen goals including an impressive hattrick in April 1955 against Hull City, a moment that evidently stuck in the mind of City manager Bob Brocklebank. Clarke started six games at the start of the 1955/56 season and when he left Bury for Hull City in November 1955 he had scored fifteen goals in 37 appearances for the Shakers.

Clarke joined Division Four side Torquay United in July 1965 after his departure from Hull City, while his old club had a landmark season and lifted the Division Three title in his absence Clarke also had a fine season at Plainmoor that ended with promotion from Division Four. He scored eleven goals for the Gulls in the 1965/66 season and stayed with Torquay for two more seasons, ending his time at Plainmoor in the 1968 close season having scored 22 goals in 132 senior appearances. This took his senior career total to 580 appearances and 125 goals in a fifteen year career.

In July 1968 Clarke joined Southern League side Bath City, he contributed to Bath finishing in second place at the end of the 1968/69 season while training with his former Torquay United colleagues and setting up a Torquay carpet cleaning business. He remained at Twerton Park for the 1969/70 season and was used in a deeper midfield position as well as the forward line. In August 1970 he transferred to Western League side Bridgwater Town, he scored regularly during the 1970/71 season but left the club in April 1971 when a cost-cutting exercise meant they could no longer sustain his matchday travel expenses between Devon and Somerset. In September 1971 Doug returned to Southern League side Bath City, assisting the club with an injury crisis and staying on for the remainder of the 1971/72 season, hanging up his boots in May 1972.

In July 1972 Clarke joined the coaching staff at Torquay United, running their Reserves side that competed in the Western League alongside his former side Bridgwater Town – within a few weeks in the role he was back in the starting eleven when his side were short on numbers. In September 1974 Doug, now in his forties, joining Western League side Welton Rovers for a season and he continued to play for the Torquay United ex-pros XI during the 1970s – as late as 1976 he answered an emergency call to assist local side Bodmin Town, only for fruity language to lead to the first and last sending off in his career

Doug remained living in Devon where he ran his carpet cleaning business, retiring in the Torquay area and occasionally attending Hull City matches. He died in August 2019, his passing was marked by a minute’s applause at the beginning of Torquay United’s next home game.

Details

Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 19 January 1934, Bolton
Hull City First Game: 12 November 1955, West Ham United H (Division Two), 21 years, 297 days old
Hull City Final Game: 28 December 1964, Port Vale H (Division Three), 30 years, 344 days old

Clubs

Bolton Wanderers (1950-1952), Darwen (1952), Bury (1952-1955), Hull City (1955-1965), Torquay United (1965-1968), Bath City (1968-1970), Bridgwater Town (1970-1971), Bath City (1971-1972), Torquay United (1972-1974), Welton Rovers (1974-1975), Bodmin Town (1976)

Hull City Record

Career: 411 apps, 87 goals