Brian Donald Clark (13 January 1943 – 10 August 2010) was an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

. He scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory for

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

in the first leg of the

European Cup Winners Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...

quarter-final in 1971.

Career

The son of former

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

player Don Clark, Clark captained Bristol Boys' before signing professional terms with Bristol City himself in March 1960, making his debut for the club in 1961 during a 3–0 victory over

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

on the final day of the season. After featuring regularly for the ''Robins'' reserve side, it was during the 1962–63 season that he established himself in the side, finishing as the club's top scorer with 23 goals. He continued to score regularly for the side and helped the side gain promotion to Division Two during the 1964–65 season, forming a formidable attacking partnership with

John Atyeo Peter John Walter Atyeo (7 February 1932 – 8 June 1993) was an English footballer who played as a striker. He spent the majority of his career at Bristol City. He won six England caps between 1955 and 1957, scoring five goals. Atyeo made 645 a ...

and

Bobby Williams Robert Vann Williams (born November 21, 1958) is an American football coach who most recently served as the special teams coordinator and tight ends coach at the University of Oregon from 2018 to 2021. Williams served as the head coach at Michi ...

, again finishing as the club's top scorer with 24 goals. In October 1966 he left Bristol City to sign for

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

in exchange for John Quigley. Clark failed to settle at the

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

club and, after two years, was snapped up by

manager

Jimmy Scoular James Scoular (11 January 1925 – 19 March 1998) was a Scottish football player and manager. Known as a tough, combative player with precise passing skills, Scoular made over 600 appearances in the Football League with Portsmouth, Newcastle ...

for £8,000. Scoring twice on his debut during a 4–3 win over

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

, he went on to form a lethal partnership with

John Toshack John Benjamin Toshack (born 22 March 1949) is a Welsh former professional football player and manager. He began his playing career as a teenager with his hometown club Cardiff City, becoming the youngest player to make an appearance for th ...

, ending the season with 17 goals and his first

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most ...

winners medal. Clark finished as the club's top scorer for the next two seasons, as well as scoring 5 times in a single match against Barmouth & Dyffryn, falling short of

Derek Tapscott Derek Robert Tapscott (30 June 1932 – 12 June 2008) was a Welsh professional footballer who played as a forward. Tapscott played for Barry Town, Arsenal, Cardiff City, Newport County, Cinderford Town, Haverfordwest County and Carmarthen ...

's club record of goals in a game by just one. It was during the 1970–71 season that he achieved probably the high point of his career when he headed in the only goal of the first leg against

in a 1–0 win during the

quarter-final. The following year he again finished as Cardiff's top scorer, the third successive year he had done so, before he and Ian Gibson were surprisingly sold to

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

for a combined fee of £100,000. Clark spent one year at Bournemouth, followed by a spell at

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

. He soon returned to

Ninian Park Ninian Park was a football stadium in the Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovations during its lifespan and hosted fixture ...

to play for Cardiff again. His second spell at the club lasted just a single season but he still managed to help the club win promotion to Division Two. He left the club to sign for Newport County before finishing his career with a number of player-manager roles at several

Welsh Football League The Welsh Football League (also known as the Nathaniel Car Sales Welsh Football League for sponsorship reasons) was a club football league in Wales. For its final season in 2019–20 season it operated at levels 3 and 4 of the Welsh football leagu ...

sides.

Death

Clark died on 10 August 2010 at the age of 67 from

Lewy body dementia Lewy body dementias are two similar and common subtypes of dementia—dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and Parkinson's disease dementia (PDD). Both are characterized by changes in thinking, movement, behavior, and mood. The two conditions have sim ...

Whitchurch Hospital Whitchurch Hospital ( cy, Ysbyty'r Eglwys Newydd) was a psychiatric hospital in Whitchurch, an area in the north of Cardiff. It was managed by the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board. The hospital remains a grade II listed building. Its g ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

Honours

;Cardiff City *

Winner: 4 :: 1968–69, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1975–76 *

Runner-up: 1 :: 1971–72 *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the f ...

Runner-up: 1 :: 1975–76

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Brian 1943 births 2010 deaths Footballers from Bristol English footballers Association football forwards Bristol City F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Cardiff City F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Millwall F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players English Football League players