Christopher Clarkson (born 7 April 1990) is an English professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who plays in the forward for the York Knights in the

Betfred Championship The Championship, known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a professional rugby league competition. It is the second-tier competition organised by the Rugby Football League, the governing body for the sport in England, ...

. He is an

England Knights England Knights (previously known as Emerging England and England A) is considered the feeder team for the England rugby league team. The Knights play a key role in the development of emerging talent, allowing players to gain experience in an i ...

international. He has previously played for

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challeng ...

and the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headi ...

in the

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

, spending a season on loan from

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

at the

Widnes Vikings The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at the Halton Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twenty-two rug ...

in 2015.

Early life

Clarkson was born in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, England. Before joining Leeds, Clarkson was a pupil at

Temple Moor High School Temple Moor High School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. In recent years, it has received 'Science College' status. In 2017 an Ofsted inspection gave the school a Good rating. Hist ...

. He played for his local amateur side East Leeds. Clarkson was a new recruit for the Leeds Rhinos Academy in 2006. One year later he became a regular in the Academy side and he helped the Junior Academy side clinch the Championship. For that game he was named in the starting line-up for the victory over St. Helens in the Grand Final. He earned his place in the side after he had registered an impressive nine tries in 21 appearances over the season.

Club career

Leeds Rhinos

Clarkson made his

début for Leeds club on 19 March 2010 in a 10-17 defeat by

, deputising for Ryan Hall. He showed his versatility by playing on the , before following this up at in the following game against

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

He played in the 2010 Challenge Cup Final defeat against

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

. Clarkson played from the interchange bench for Leeds in the 2011 Challenge Cup Final defeat against Wigan at

. He played in the

2011 Super League Grand Final The 2011 Super League Grand Final was the 14th official Grand Final and the championship-deciding game of the Super League XVI season. It was held on Saturday, 8 October at Manchester, England's Old Trafford stadium. The match was contested by ...

victory over St. Helens at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

. Clarkson was part of the successful Leeds team that won the

2012 Super League Grand Final The 2012 Super League Grand Final was the 15th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League XVII season. The match was held on Saturday 6 October 2012, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was contested by ...

. Clarkson also played a winning role in Leeds

2014 Challenge Cup The 2014 Challenge Cup (also known as the Tetley's Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 113th staging of the rugby league tournament. The defending champions Wigan Warriors were knocked out in the quarter finals 4 - 16 at home to the Cas ...

Final triumph over the

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England, that compete in the Super League, the top-level professional rugby league club competition in the Northern Hemisphere. The club have competed i ...

. Throughout his time with the club, Clarkson made 118 appearances for the Leeds club and registering 11 tries in total.

Widnes Vikings (loan)

In 2015, Clarkson was sent out on loan to

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...

, where he played 25 games and scored four tries in their

and Qualifiers campaign.

Hull Kingston Rovers

On 2 October 2015, Clarkson signed a three-year deal to play for

starting in the 2016 season. Clarkson suffered relegation from the

with Hull Kingston Rovers in the 2016 season, due to losing the

Million Pound Game Million Pound Game (stylized as £1M Game) was an annual playoff final rugby league game that decides which Championship team will be promoted to Super League the following season. Between 2015 and 2018, the game was played as part of The Qualif ...

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

. 12-months later however, Clarkson was part of the Hull Kingston Rovers side that won promotion back to the Super League at the first time of asking following relegation the season prior. It was revealed on 10 October 2018 that Clarkson would be departing Hull Kingston Rovers following a restructure of the club's on-field personnel.

Castleford Tigers

It was revealed on 7 January 2019, that Clarkson had been offered a trial at Castleford ( Heritage № 988), in hope of earning a permanent deal at the club. It was revealed on 15 February 2019 that, after a successful trial period, Clarkson had signed a one-year contract at Castleford. He was assigned shirt number 33. Clarkson made his Castleford début on 23 February 2019, in a 6-40 victory over the

London Broncos The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club in London, England. The club competes in the RFL Championship. It was a member of Super League from its inaugural season in 1996 until the end of the 2014 season, when they were relegat ...

. Clarkson scored his first try for the Castleford side on 1 March 2019, in a 32-16 triumph over his former club Hull Kingston Rovers at the

Jungle A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅ ...

. This was later named Castleford's Try of the Year at the club's end-of-season awards night. Chris Clarkson Castleford

Representative career

Clarkson has won representative honours with

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 ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at under-17's level. He has also featured for the

in 2012.

Honours

Club

Leeds Rhinos

(2):

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

(1):

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

World Club Challenge The World Club Challenge is an annual rugby league competition between the winners of the Australasian National Rugby League (NRL) and the European Super League, for the de facto club world championship of the sport. The first such match was pl ...

(1):

References

External links

Castleford Tigers profileHull KR profileLeeds Rhinos profileSL profileLEEDS RHINOS 10 V 17 HULL KINGSTON ROVERS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarkson, Chris 1990 births Living people Castleford Tigers players England Knights national rugby league team players English rugby league players Hull Kingston Rovers players Leeds Rhinos players Rugby league players from Leeds Rugby league second-rows Rugby league locks Rugby league props Widnes Vikings players York City Knights captains York City Knights players