Thomas Bishop Andrews Clarke (5 October 1868 – 9 January 1909) 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 ...

who played as a striker for

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

and represented the

Sheffield FA The Sheffield and Hallamshire Football Association is a County Football Association in England. It was formed in Sheffield in 1867 as the Sheffield Football Association, and is the second-oldest football governing body after the Football Associ ...

against

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

in 1890.

Playing career

Clarke was an amateur player when he signed for

midway through their first season of existence. He played occasionally for the club, possibly contracted on a part-time basis, for just over a year and captained the side on a number of occasions. Although the bulk of his appearances were in friendly fixtures Clarke did appear for the ''Blades'' in two

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 ...

fixtures and a handful of games in the

Midland Counties League The Midland Football League was a semi-professional football league in England. It acted as a feeder league to the Football League for many years before merging with the Yorkshire League in 1982 to form the Northern Counties East League. Histor ...

. Moving on to play for Sheffield Club in December 1890, Clarke remained part of Sheffield United, serving as a committee member during the 1891–92 season.

Personal life

Clarke was born in Wentworth, Yorkshire, where he played 1889–90. He was the second son of Dr. William Clarke and Euphemia Baird Jamieson Andrews. His father was family physician to the Fitzwilliams at

Wentworth Woodhouse Wentworth Woodhouse is a Grade I listed country house in the village of Wentworth, in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. It is currently owned by the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust. The building has m ...

. He was educated at Harrow, where he played football and cricket, and earned his B.A. from

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...

in 1890. He worked as an electrical engineer, training with the General Electric Power and Traction Co. Ltd. Prior to his death in 1909, Clarke and his brother held a patent for an electric coal cutter.

References

1909 deaths 1868 births Association football forwards Sheffield United F.C. players Sheffield F.C. players People educated at Harrow School Midland Football League players English footballers Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge British electrical engineers People from Wentworth, South Yorkshire Footballers from South Yorkshire {{England-footy-forward-1860s-stub