John Kildahl "Stork" Clarke (26 June 1931 – 23 March 1997) was an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er in the (then) Western Australian National Football League (WANFL).

Football

Clarke played as a ruckman for

East Fremantle East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

, making his debut in 1952. In 1957 he won the

Sandover Medal The Sandover Medal is an Australian rules football award, given annually since 1921 to the fairest and best player in the West Australian Football League. The award was donated by Alfred Sandover M.B.E., a prominent Perth hardware merchant and b ...

as the

fairest and best In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

player in the league as well as playing in a premiership-winning team. Clarke played 206 games for East Fremantle, plus 26 state games for

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

in the period 1952 to 1962. He was named in four

All-Australian team The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perf ...

s – 1953, 1956, 1958 and 1961.

Career highlights

* Played 206 games for East Fremantle * Coached 2 games for East Fremantle (1961) * Captained East Fremantle in 1961 * Sandover Medallist 1957 * East Fremantle fairest and best 1956, 1960, 1961 * Premiership with East Fremantle in 1957 * 25 state games for Western Australia * State captain 1958-1960 * All-Australian 1953, 1956, 1958, 1961

Hall of Fame

Australian Football Hall of Fame

In 1998 Jack Clarke was inducted into the

Australian Football Hall of Fame The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996, the Centenary year of the Australian Football League, to help recognise the contributions made to the sport of Australian rules football by players, umpires, media personalities, coa ...

West Australian Football Hall of Fame

In 2004 he was inducted to the WA Football Hall of Fame.

Notes

References

*
AFL Hall of Fame

External links

*
Jack Kildahl (Stork) Clarke, at ''WAFL Footy Facts''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Jack 1931 births 1997 deaths Australian rules footballers from Western Australia East Fremantle Football Club players Sandover Medal winners All-Australians (1953–1988) Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees West Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees