Henry A. Clay (29 January 1881 – 9 August 1964) was an English professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player in the years prior to the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He made 310 appearances in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

and 32 appearances in the FA Cup for his only professional club,

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 ...

Career

Born in

Kimberley, Nottinghamshire Kimberley is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Broxtowe in Nottinghamshire, England, lying 6 miles northwest of Nottingham along the A610. The town grew as a centre for coal mining, brewing and hosiery manufacturing. Together with the n ...

, he began his career with local hometown club Kimberley St Johns before Bristol City manager Sam Hollis signed him in November 1901 for

. Clay made his league debut for Bristol City v

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

on 7 Dec 1901 and made 23 appearances as City finished 6th of 18 teams in the Second Division. Ever present with 34 appearances in the next three successive seasons 1902–03, 1903-04 & 1904-05 when City rose to 4th place on each occasion. Season 1905-06 saw City finish top of the Second Division table as Clay played in 36 of the 38 league matches. With City promoted to the First Division in 1906-07 Clay played only 8 games as William Demmery was the goalkeeper who won the League runners up medal. Clay played 11 matches in season 1907-08 when Albert Edward Talbot-Lewis was the regular goalkeeper. Clay returned to the side in season 1908-09 making 37 appearances for the "Robins" and played all rounds of the FA Cup and in the

1909 FA Cup Final The 1909 FA Cup Final was the final match of the 1908–09 FA Cup, the 38th season of England's premier club football cup competition. The match was played on 24 April 1909 at Crystal Palace, and was contested by Manchester United and Bristol C ...

defeat by

Manchester United 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 City of Salford, Salford to ...

played at the Crystal Palace. He played regularly 29 appearances in 1909-10 and 28 appearances in 1910-11 when City were relegated after finishing 19th out of 20 clubs in the First Division. Clay made further league appearances in the Second Division, 25 appearances in 1911-12 and 12 appearances the following season. He played his final match on 16 Nov 1912 for Bristol City v

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

in a 0–0 draw before retiring in 1913. He served in the Army in the First World War and was then groundsman at BAC, Filton and Canford Park, Westbury on Trym in Bristol.

Honours

;with Bristol City *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

champion:

1905–06 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

runner-up:

1909 Events January–February * January 4 – Explorer Aeneas Mackintosh of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition escaped death by fleeing across ice floes. * January 7 – Colombia recognizes the independence of Panama. * Januar ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clay, Harry 1881 births People from Kimberley, Nottinghamshire Footballers from Nottinghamshire 1964 deaths English footballers Association football goalkeepers Kimberley St John's F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players English Football League players FA Cup Final players