Reginald Leonard Clarke (4 September 1907 – 1981), sometimes known as Nobby Clarke or Reg Clarke, was an English professional

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 ...

who made over 310 appearances as a

wing half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

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 ...

for

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

. He is a member of the club's Hall of Fame.

Personal life

In 1936, Clarke became the

landlord A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant (also a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). When a juristic person is in this position, the ...

of The Volunteer Inn

pub A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

Ottery St Mary Ottery St Mary, known as "Ottery", is a town and civil parish in the East Devon district of Devon, England, on the River Otter, about east of Exeter on the B3174. At the 2001 census, the parish, which includes the villages of Metcombe, Fair ...

, which, due to his

contract stipulating that players were forbidden to be involved in the

licensing A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

trade, necessitated his departure from the club. After retiring from football, he ran The King's Arms pub in Seaton and was a club official at Seaton Town.

Honours

Friernhay *

Devon Senior Cup The Devon Senior Cup is the third tier county cup in the county of Devon. It is administered by the Devon County Football Association The Devon County Football Association, also simply known as the ''Devon FA'', is the governing body of foot ...

: 1925–26 Individual *

Hall of Fame

References

1907 births 1981 deaths Footballers from Exeter English men's footballers Men's association football wing halves Exeter City F.C. players Aldershot F.C. players Torquay United F.C. wartime guest players Leeds United F.C. wartime guest players Clapton Orient F.C. wartime guest players English Football League players British publicans {{England-footy-midfielder-1900s-stub