John Clayton was a rugby union international who represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the first international in 1871.

Early life

John Clayton was born on 24 August 1848 in Liverpool. He attended

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...

Rugby union career

Clayton had played rugby football at school and went on to play for

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

. He made his international debut on 27 March 1871 at

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in the first international match and first meeting between

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and

match. He was one of ten Old Rugbeians playing in that match.

Career and later life

Clayton worked as a cotton broker, based in Liverpool. He was active in other sports outside of rugby and was known to have been a keen shooter and golfer, and also captained the

Royal Liverpool Golf Club The Royal Liverpool Golf Club is a golf club in Wirral in Merseyside, England. It was founded in 1869 on what was then the racecourse of the Liverpool Hunt Club. It received the "Royal" designation in 1871 due to the patronage of the Duke of ...

References

1848 births 1924 deaths English rugby union players England international rugby union players Rugby union forwards Rugby union players from Liverpool {{England-rugbyunion-bio-stub