George B. Clarke (24 July 1900 – 11 February 1977) was an English professional footballer, who played as an outside left in the Football League for

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

, Crystal Palace and Queens Park Rangers. He also played

non-league football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

for Mansfield Town and

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a port town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour and shipping port for most of the 19th and 20t ...

Playing career

Clarke began his playing career with Mansfield Town, at that time a non-league team, having previously worked as a miner at Welbeck Colliery. In 1922,

paid £500 to sign him but his sole Villa appearance was not made until February 1925, and in May 1925, he was signed by former Aston Villa reserve player and then Crystal Palace manager, Edmund Goodman. In his first season with Crystal Palace, Clarke missed only one game and remained a fixture in the side for the next seven seasons. His 98 goals, as a winger, for Palace has only been exceeded by central strikers, but his main contribution was as a creator of scoring chances; supplying opportunities for the main strikers, particularly Peter Simpson. In the 1933 close season, Clarke moved to Queens Park Rangers but remained there for only one season, before moving into

with

. George Clarke died on 11 February 1977 aged 76.

References

External links

George Clarke at holmesdale.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, George 1900 births 1977 deaths People from Bolsover Footballers from Derbyshire English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders English Football League players Mansfield Town F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Folkestone F.C. players