ANDY CLARK

Full Name: Andrew Clark

Born: 07 October 1879

Came from: Stoke   Went to: Leeds City

First game: 01 September 1903   Last game: 25 April 1906

Appearances: 143 (143/0)   Goals: 1

Born in Ballingry, near Lochore in Fife, Clark began his career in his native homeland and was a Scottish Junior international.

His first recorded club was Hamilton Academical in 1897-98, which was their first season in the Scottish Football League (SFL), after they took over the fixtures of the expunged Renton after four games in Division Two. Despite being one of the 11 founding members of the SFL, the West Dunbartonshire side resigned after being unable to meet their financial commitments. Accies completed the remaining 14 games, though it’s not apparent if Clark ever appeared. He subsequently left Hamilton and signed back locally with Fife-based Buckhaven United for the 1898-99 season, but no appearance data is recorded.

A move to Heart of Midlothian followed, where he spent two seasons in the Scottish League First Division, making 39 appearances in total without scoring, before he was sold and he headed south to join top-flight Stoke in 1901 for two seasons, ahead of their adoption of the 'City' suffix in 1925. He made 59 appearances in total without scoring before briefly returning to Scotland ahead of his move to Devon.

He briefly registered with ambitious East Fife, who, similarly to Hamilton's start, had taken over another club's ground (rather than fixtures) as they moved into Leven Thistle's Town Hall Park ground, renaming it Bayview Park, in a bid to get into the SFL, having previously been rejected.

By the time they were successful, he had already departed to Devon and he became a key member of Argyle's first professional side. Clark was Argyle's first choice left-back for the following three years, also captaining the side to great acclaim, often described as giving 'Herculean effort'. In total, he made 143 appearances for the club across Southern and Western Leagues fixtures, scoring his solitary career goal in a 2-0 win against Luton Town in April 1906, towards the end of his spell at the club.

After leaving Argyle, he signed for Second Division Leeds City for a 'substantial fee'. City were the precursors to Leeds United and were a league side until 1919, when they were expelled due to financial irregularities and United were established as a replacement. He played 24 times for the club in the 1906-07 season.

For the 1907-08 season, he moved to Southern League First Division side Brentford, for whom he played 25 times. He then wound down his career with Southend United in the same league, though no appearances are recorded.

Having retired from the game, he moved back to his homeland and died on 10th August 1940, in Wemyss in Fife.