Clive Anthony Sullivan MBE (9 April 1943 – 8 October 1985) was a Welsh

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer. A Great Britain and Wales international winger, he played for both

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and wer ...

and

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challen ...

in his career, and also for

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, w ...

( Heritage № 844) and

Doncaster Doncaster (, ) is a city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, it is the administrative centre of the larger City of Doncaster. It is the second largest settlement in South Yorkshire after Sheffield. Doncaster is situated in ...

. Captaining

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It ...

in 1972, he was the first black captain for Great Britain in any sport. He was part of the Great Britain team which won the

1972 Rugby League World Cup The sixth Rugby League World Cup was held in France in October and November 1972. Australia started as the favourites to retain the trophy they had won just two years previously. New Zealand had beaten all three of the other nations in 1971 an ...

. His son, Anthony Sullivan, had a successful career with Hull Kingston Rovers, St. Helens, Wales in both rugby league and union, and

Cardiff RFC Cardiff Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Caerdydd) is a rugby union club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876Parry-Jones (1989), pg 59 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, shortly afte ...

Early life

Sullivan was born in the

Splott Splott ( cy, Y Sblot) is a district and community in the south of the city of Cardiff, capital of Wales, just east of the city centre. It was built up in the late 19th century on the land of two farms of the same name: Upper Splott and Lower ...

, an inner-city suburb of

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

on 9 April 1943. His mother’s family was of

Antigua Antigua ( ), also known as Waladli or Wadadli by the native population, is an island in the Lesser Antilles. It is one of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region and the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua and Bar ...

n descent and his father was

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of Hispa ...

n. Sullivan began playing rugby at school, but from the age of 14, injuries meant that he required surgery on his knees, feet and shoulders. Doctors thought it unlikely that he would ever be able to walk normally again and a rugby career seemed unlikely. In 1961 he joined the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

after leaving school and working for a while as a motor mechanic. He was posted to Catterick in the

North Riding of Yorkshire The North Riding of Yorkshire is a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point is at Mickle Fell with 2,585 ft (788 metres). From the Restoration it was used ...

, and while there was picked for an inter-corps rugby match on account of being Welsh. Sullivan chose to play in the match as admitting to having a major injury would have led to his being invalided out of the army. His plan was to deliberately play badly to avoid being picked again. However, instinct took over and after scoring a long distance try with no ill effects, he decided to make the most of the army training to further progress his hopes of playing rugby.

Rugby League career

After an unsuccessful trial game at

Bradford Northern The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is pre ...

at the age of 17 he was approached by the touch judge from the game and offered a trial at Hull. His trial at Hull was a different story. Dubbed Mr. X by the ''

Hull Daily Mail The ''Hull Daily Mail'' is an English regional daily newspaper for Kingston upon Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The ''Hull Daily Mail'' has been circulated in various guises since 1885. A second edition, the ''East Riding Mail'', covers ...

'', he scored three tries and signed as a professional the following day. Sullivan's first three seasons were restricted by his army duties, three knee operations and a nearly fatal car crash in October 1963, although he returned to play again just three months after the accident. He left the army after a spell in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

in 1964. Free of his army commitments he returned to Hull in time to play the last game of the season. Rugby league club Hull had different ideas about Sullivan and gave the young man, who boasted phenomenal speed, a chance to play rugby league. In his début for Hull, Sullivan had an outstanding game and gained the support of the Hull club and city. Sullivan became known for his exceptional speed. His upper body was deceptively strong, which gave him excellent cover defence. Despite his knees requiring constant attention and further operations, Sullivan played a total of 352 games for Hull, scoring 250 tries. In his 213 games for

he scored 118 tries. Sullivan played and scored a try in Hull FC's 12–9 victory over

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England, who play in the Championship. Featherstone is a former coal mining town with a population of around 16,000 and Rovers are one of the last "smal ...

in the

1969–70 Yorkshire Cup The 1969–70 Yorkshire Cup was the sixty-second occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held. Hull F.C. won the trophy by beating Featherstone Rovers by the score of 12-9 The match was played at Headingley, Leeds, now in We ...

Final at

Headingley Rugby Stadium Headingley Rugby Stadium shares the same site as Headingley Cricket Ground and is home to Leeds Rhinos. Headingley is the 5th largest rugby league stadium in England. History 1889-1980s: Construction and development Leeds St Johns, who ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popul ...

on Saturday 20 September 1969, played (replaced by interchange/ substitute Gerald Dunn) in

' 16–13 victory over

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the ...

in the 1974–75 Yorkshire Cup Final at Headingley Stadium, Leeds on Saturday 26 October 1974, and played and scored a try in the 11–15 defeat by

in the 1975–76 Yorkshire Cup Final at Headingley, Leeds on Saturday 15 November 1975. His international career opened for

in 1967. The following year he played three World Cup matches, grabbing a hat-trick against New Zealand. In 1970, he toured

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologic ...

, but only participated in one test due to injury. He however won a further three test

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

against New Zealand in 1971. In 1972 he was handed the captaincy of Great Britain, and played two tests against France. The World Cup took place that same year, and he captained Great Britain to become world champions. He scored a try in each of Great Britain's four games and scored a try to level 10–10 against Australia in the World Cup Final, after a length of the field run. In 1973 his Great Britain career came to an end with three tests against Australia. He was captain-coach of

from 1973 to '74. He was awarded an MBE in the

1974 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1974 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. They were announced on 1 January 1974 to celebr ...

list for services to rugby league. The

1975 Rugby League World Cup The 1975 Rugby League World Championship (also referred to as the World Series) was the seventh tournament for the Rugby League World Cup. The format differed from that employed in previous competitions; no single country hosted the matches, whi ...

saw Sullivan lead Wales in all four matches, scoring a try in the victory over England in the second game for the Welsh team. Wales finished third in the five-team World Cup. Sullivan played in Hull Kingston Rovers' 10-5 victory ver Hull F.Cin the

1979–80 Challenge Cup The 1979–80 Challenge Cup, for sponsorship reasons known as the 1979–80 State Express Challenge Cup was the 79th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. The final was the first Hull Cup final derby, with a ...

Final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

on Saturday 3 May 1980, in front of a crowd of 95,000 Sullivan played and scored a try in Hull Kingston Rovers' 26–11 victory over St. Helens in the

1977 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democratic Rep ...

Final at Craven Park,

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

on Tuesday 13 December 1977, and played in the 3–13 defeat by Hull F.C. in the

1979 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

Final at the Boulevard,

on Tuesday 18 December 1979. Sullivan was unexpectedly called back into the Hull F.C. team in 1982 after a period on the coaching staff, at the age of 39, he played , (

Dane O'Hara Dane Bradford Mark O'Hara is a New Zealand former rugby league footballer who represented New Zealand. At the time of his retirement he held the record for most international matches for New Zealand. Early years O'Hara attended St. Paul's Colle ...

having played in the first match, but had subsequently been reprimanded by Hull for an off-field issue) in Hull FC's 18–9 victory over

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form th ...

in the

1981–82 Challenge Cup The 1981–82 Challenge Cup was the 81st staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. Known as the State Express Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons, the final was contested by Widnes and Hull F.C. at Wembley. The ...

Final replay at

Elland Road Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England. The ...

on Wednesday 19 May 1982, in front of a crowd of 41,171. In all, Sullivan represented Great Britain 17 times and appeared at three World Cups, 1968 and 1972 with Great Britain, and in 1975 for Wales.

Death and commemorations

When Sullivan died of cancer in 1985, aged 42, the city of

held him in such high regard that a section of the city's main approach road, the A63 between the Humber Bridge and the city centre, was renamed Clive Sullivan Way in his honour. Since 2001 the Clive Sullivan Memorial Trophy has been awarded to the winner of the Rugby League local derby match between Hull and Hull Kingston Rovers in recognition of his service to both local clubs. In December 2020, Sullivan was named as one of three Welsh rugby league players to be honoured with a new statue in

Cardiff Bay Cardiff Bay ( cy, Bae Caerdydd; historically Tiger Bay; colloquially "The Bay") is an area and freshwater lake in Cardiff, Wales. The site of a former tidal bay and estuary, it serves as the river mouth of the River Taff and Ely. The body of ...

, the other two being

Billy Boston William John Boston, MBE (born 6 August 1934) is a Welsh former professional rugby league footballer who played as a or . Born in Cardiff, Wales, Boston started his career as a rugby union player before joining Wigan in 1953. He spent the nex ...

and

Gus Risman Augustus "Gus" John Ferdinand Risman (21 March 1911 – 17 October 1994) was a Welsh professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1920s through to the 1950s, and Coach (sport), coached in the 1940s through to the 1970s. A devastating ...

. In April 2021, Clive was honoured in a

Google Doodle A Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and notable historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running an ...

to celebrate what would have been his 78th birthday.

Career records

Sullivan still holds two records for Hull, which include the most tries in a career (250) and most tries in a match (7, against

on 15 April 1968), and is one of fewer than twenty-five Welshmen to have scored more than 1,000 points in their rugby league career.

References

External links