Clement Joseph Charnock (1865,

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...

– 17 April 1950) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of ...

who spent much of his career in

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

and is credited with being a pioneer of

football in Russia Association football is the most popular sport in Russia, since beating ice hockey by a huge margin. Men's football is overseen by the Russian Football Union, having the Russian Premier League as the first tier of the Russian football league s ...

. He followed his elder brother, James Charnock, who had left for Russia in 1868, when Clement was only three. Another brother, Harry Charnock, also joined them in Russia. Charnock started his career with

Platt Brothers Platt Brothers, also known as Platt Bros & Co Ltd, was a British company based at Werneth in Oldham, North West England. The company manufactured textile machinery and were iron founders and colliery proprietors. By the end of the 19th century ...

, a company in

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, that produced textile machinery. Here he completed a five-year apprenticeship in 1887. Then he took up the post of Assistant Manager with Morozov and Sons at their factory in

Orekhovo-Zuyevo Orekhovo-Zuyevo (russian: Оре́хово-Зу́ево, ) is an industrial city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located east of Moscow in a forested area on the Klyazma River (a tributary of the Oka). Orekhovo (russian: Оре́хово), often prono ...

, 85 km east of

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. In 1891 he became chief director for the Gorbunov Brothers. After remaining in post for sixteen years, in 1907 he took up a similar position with the Konshin Brothers. In 1910 he established his own business manufacturing paper tubes in a factory in Moscow. In 1916 he returned to England where he became involved with Cook & Co. a long-established company in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

that produced textile machinery.

Pioneer of Russian football

Charnock was a

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

fan before he left for Russia. Soon after his arrival, he responded to concerns about

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...

amongst the workforce by introducing them to

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. At the time,

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league. Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...

had already been banned in 1886, as it was considered too violent by the authorities.

References

{{reflist 1865 births 1950 deaths English mechanical engineers