GoS: Player Details

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Greens on Screen started its life in 1999 before many of the football sites that we are familiar with today, including Plymouth Argyle's own official site. Greens on Screen is dedicated to the sights, sounds and history of Plymouth Argyle Football club. It is owned and run by the Plymouth Argyle Heritage Archive, a charity dedicated to the promotion, preservation, and display of the heritage of our great football club.

The site owes its existence to Steve Dean. Without Steve's dedication and commitment for over 25 years, GoS would not exist and be the valued and loved resource for all football fans that it is today. The site is truly the envy of many clubs, and we owe a huge debt to Steve for his tireless work, and continued support behind the scenes.

Greens on Screen's first page was published in January 1999. Its early purpose was to bring Plymouth Argyle a little closer to those unable to see their team, and whilst it has changed a great deal over the years, its core themes - sights and sounds for Westcountry exiles - still stand. The site was very lucky to take on the content of Trevor Scallan's Semper Viridis in the summer of 2007, and in 2009 launched GoS-DB, a wealth of facts and figures from PAFC's history. A year later, we embarked on a complete history of Argyle, with much-valued contributions from chapter authors. Greens on Screen was taken over by its new custodians, The Argyle Archive, in 2024.

Greens on Screen is an amateur website and proud of it. It is run by a team of volunteers from the Plymouth Argyle Heritage Archive (Argyle Archive). Without the hard work and much-valued contributions of these volunteers, running the site would not be possible. Greens on Screen is self-taught and as a result, a little bit quirky.

Greens on Screen remains advertisement free, which means we are grateful for the generous support of our donors and the work of our volunteers to help keep it free of promotions. If you would like to support the work of Greens on Screen, please consider donating to the Plymouth Argyle Heritage Archive.

GoS's sole aim is to be a service to fellow supporters, and we look forward to continuing to celebrate Argyle's history for many years to come.

Plymouth Argyle Heritage Archive.
April 2024

Can you help? This page is the result of the best endeavours of all concerned. If you spot a mistake or know of facts to add, or have a better photo, please get in touch using 'Contact Us' (top, right).

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CHARLIE CLARK

Full Name: Charles Waldern Clark

Born: 13 July 1877

Came from: Everton Went to: Crystal Palace

First game: 26 September 1903 Last game: 24 April 1909

Appearances: 272 (272/0) Goals: 9

Born in Allanton, a coal-mining village in Hamilton, North Lanarkshire, he began his career with Scottish junior side Thorniewood before joining Hamilton Academical. In his early days at Accies, he found it difficult to combine football with his other passion, music, and on more than one occasion the latter took precedence. As well as playing regularly over three years for his club, he was also chosen to represent Lanarkshire Juniors against Glasgow in 1898 and the senior side against Ayrshire in 1901.

Clark created history during his time at Douglas Park by becoming the first player to score a Scottish Football League hat-trick for Accies, doing so against Port Glasgow Athletic on 5 November 1898, almost a year to the day after the club's first league game.

Originally a forward, he was converted to centre-half and it was his performances in the half-back line that brought him to the attention of Everton, whom he joined in 1901 for a fee of £60. In total, he played 44 times and scored seven goals for Hamilton.

After two seasons at Goodison Park, where he struggled to break into the first team, making just six appearances and scoring once, he moved to Home Park in the summer of 1903 to become one of Frank Brettell's new Plymouth Argyle side.

He was one of the most reliable and consistent members of Argyle's first professional team and was virtually an ever-present across six seasons with the club. In his second season he received a Western League winners' medal and played a remarkable 54 times. Not surprisingly, he was described as 'absolutely untiring' and 'always a dominating factor in a game', and became an extremely popular captain when given the role in 1906. In assuming the captaincy, Clark is believed to have become Argyle's first professional captain.

After leaving Argyle, he spent a single season with Southern League Crystal Palace, playing 31 times before retiring in 1910.

Some newspaper sources suggested that he emigrated to Canada the year after his retirement, in 1911. Whether he did or not is unclear, but he was eventually traced via his daughter to the United States, where he worked as a private gardener on an estate in Rhode Island.

He remained Stateside for the rest of his life and passed away in Rhode Island in May 1931, aged just 53.

YOUR CONTRIBUTION

If you can add to this profile, perhaps with special memories, a favourite story or the results of your original research, please contribute here.

APPEARANCE DETAILS [reselect competitions]

The details below reflect appearances in all first-team competitions.

We are very grateful to many who have helped write GoS-DB's player pen-pictures, and to Dave Rowntree and the PAFC Media Team for their help with photos. Thanks also to staff at the National Football Museum, the Scottish Football Museum and ScotlandsPeople for their valuable assistance.

The following publications have been particularly valuable in the research of pen-pictures: Plymouth Argyle, A Complete Record 1903-1989 (Brian Knight, ISBN 0-907969-40-2); Plymouth Argyle, 101 Golden Greats (Andy Riddle, ISBN 1-874287-47-3); Football League Players' Records 1888-1939 (Michael Joyce, ISBN 1-899468-67-6); Football League Players' Records 1946-1988 (Barry Hugman, ISBN 1-85443-020-3) and Plymouth Argyle Football Club Handbooks.

Greens on Screen is run as a service to fellow supporters, in all good faith, without commercial or private gain. We have no wish to abuse copyright regulations and apologise unreservedly if this occurs. If you own any of the material on this site, and object to its inclusion, please get in touch using the 'Contact Us' button at the top of the page.