Daniel Robert Clapton (22 July 1934 – 16 June 1986) was an English

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 ...

. Born in

Stepney Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appl ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, Clapton first started out as an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

with

Leytonstone Leytonstone () is an area in east London, England, north-east of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Waltham Forest, a local authority district of Greater London. It adjoins Wanstead to the north-east, Forest Gate to the south-east, S ...

before joining

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in August 1953. He made his debut in a 1–0 win over

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

on 25 December 1954, and by the end of the 1954-55 he was Arsenal's first choice right- winger, taking

Arthur Milton Clement Arthur Milton (10 March 1928 – 25 April 2007)
...

's place. He became a near ever-present for Arsenal for the next four seasons (aside from 1957-58, where he was out injured for a third of the season), helping Arsenal to third place in 1958-59, their highest league position in six years. Clapton was also called up for

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 ...

, playing a solitary international match against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

on 26 November 1958 at

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway stations ...

, which finished 2-2. Arsenal played a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

later that day against

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

Highbury Highbury is a district in North London and part of the London Borough of Islington in Greater London that was owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger and included all the areas north and east of Canonbury and Holloway Roads. The manor house was situ ...

, and Clapton played in that match as well, alongside teammate

Jack Kelsey Alfred John "Jack" Kelsey (19 November 1929 – 18 March 1992) was a Welsh international football goalkeeper, who also played for Arsenal. He is regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers to play for Wales. Early life Jack Kelsey was born at ...

, who earlier in the day had been in goal for Wales. After Arsenal signed Jackie Henderson and

Alan Skirton Alan Frederick Graham Skirton (23 January 1939 – 12 May 2019) was an English footballer. Playing career Skirton started out as a player with West Twerton Youth Club in his home city of Bath before joining Bristol City as an amateur. However, ...

, Clapton had to be content with sharing the right wing position in 1959-60 and 1960-61. Arsenal then signed Johnny MacLeod in the summer of 1961, and Clapton lost his place in the side altogether (only playing five matches in 1961-62) and was sold to

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

in September 1962. In all he played 225 matches for Arsenal, scoring 27 goals. Clapton's spell at Luton was uneventful; he later moved to Australia to play for

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

side

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-aut ...

. He returned to England in 1970 and later ran a pub in Hackney. His younger brother Denis was also a footballer, but never achieved the same success, making only five league appearances for Arsenal and

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

. He died aged 51, in 1986.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clapton, Danny 1934 births 1986 deaths English men's footballers England men's international footballers Men's association football wingers Arsenal F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players English Football League players English Football League representative players Leytonstone F.C. players Footballers from Stepney