Neil G. Clarke ''(sometimes listed as Clark)'' (born in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

) was a

Scottish American Scottish Americans or Scots Americans (Scottish Gaelic: ''Ameireaganaich Albannach''; sco, Scots-American) are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in Scotland. Scottish Americans are closely related to Scotch-Irish Americans, d ...

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who began his career in the

Scottish Football League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km south ...

before migrating to the United States. He played in both the

National Association Football League The National Association Football League (also spelled ''National Association Foot Ball League'') (NAFBL) was a semi-professional U.S. soccer league which operated between 1895 and 1898. The league was reconstituted in 1906 and continued to oper ...

and American Soccer League. In 1916, he played in the first two U.S. national team games.

Professional career

Clarke began his career as a

center forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring Goal (sport)#Association footbal ...

but later moved to center half back. He played for

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

in the

. In 1913, now based in the United States, he was with the

Paterson True Blues Paterson True Blues was a professional U.S. soccer team founded in 1887 and disestablished after 1915. The True Blues, based out of Paterson, New Jersey, are best known as one of the dominant soccer teams of its era and one of the first U.S. so ...

of the

(NAFBL) when Paterson won the

American Cup The American Cup (also known as the American Football Association Cup and the American Federation Cup) was the first major U.S. soccer competition open to teams beyond a single league. It was first held in 1885. In the 1910s, it gradually dec ...

finals against Diston The first game and first replay both ended in ties with Clarke scoring the tying goal in both games. In the second replay, Paterson won, 2-1, to take the Cup. He then moved to

Brooklyn Field Club Brooklyn Field Club was a soccer team based in Brooklyn, New York, that existed from 1898 to 1924. It is one of the few to predate the United States Soccer Federation, which was founded in 1913. Between 1909 and 1916 they played in the second Na ...

, winning the 1914 National Challenge Cup with them. In 1914, Clarke is listed with

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succe ...

. In 1915 and 1916, Bethlehem won the

National Challenge Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. O ...

.Bethlehem Steel Soccer Club
/ref> He then moved to

Babcock & Wilcox Babcock & Wilcox is an American renewable, environmental and thermal energy technologies and service provider that is active and has operations in many international markets across the globe with its headquarters in Akron, Ohio, USA. Historicall ...

for a single season before moving to the

Fall River Rovers Fall River Rovers were a United States soccer club, based in Fall River, Massachusetts. They won the 1888 and 1889 American Cups as well as the 1917 National Challenge Cup. In 1921 Rovers were disbanded and a new team, Fall River United were for ...

of the

Southern New England Soccer League The Southern New England Soccer League was a semi-professional soccer league based in New England which was established in 1914 and collapsed in 1921. During its short existence, it featured some of the top teams in the northeast United States. ...

in 1918. That year, Clarke was with Fall River when they lost the National Challenge Cup final to Bethlehem Steel. In 1920 and 1921, he played for Robins Dry Dock, which won the 1921 Challenge Cup. In 1921, the American Soccer League replaced the NAFBL as the top U.S. league. Todd Shipyards, the parent company of Robins Dry Dock, took over sponsorship of the team, renaming

Todd Shipyard Vigor Shipyards is the current entity operating the former Todd Shipyards after its acquisition in 2011. Todd Shipyards was founded in 1916, which owned and operated shipyards on the West Coast of the United States, East Coast of the United S ...

. The team folded at the end of the 1921-1922 season, and Clarke moved to the

Fall River F.C. Fall River Football Club, also referred to as Fall River Field Club, was the name used by two United States soccer clubs, based in Fall River, Massachusetts. Both played in the American Soccer League during the early 1930s. The name is often used ...

. He saw little playing time and in 1923, he made his last move, this time to the Philadelphia Field Club. He left the ASL in 1925.

National team

Clarke earned two

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 Java ...

with the U.S. national team in 1916. In the first official U.S. national team game, the U.S. defeated

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

on 20 August 1916. On 3 September 1916, Clarke and his team mates drew with

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

before returning to the U.S.USA - Details of International Matches 1885-1969
RSSSF, 29 June 2003

External links

Bethlehem Steel Soccer Club
Bethlehem Globe, 11 July 1921

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Neil American men's soccer players American Soccer League (1921–1933) players Babcock & Wilcox (soccer) players Bethlehem Steel F.C. (1907–1930) players Brooklyn Field Club players Celtic F.C. players Fall River F.C. (1922–1931) players Fall River Rovers players National Association Football League players Scottish emigrants to the United States Paterson True Blues players Philadelphia Field Club players Brooklyn Robins Dry Dock players Southern New England Soccer League players Todd Shipyards (soccer) players United States men's international soccer players Year of death missing Men's association football defenders Men's association football forwards Year of birth missing

Professional career

National team

See also

External links

References