Sammy Clarke
{{short description|Australian rules footballer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2011}}
{{Infobox AFL biography
| name = Sammy Clarke
| image = Sydney Campbell Clarke.png
| image_size = 120px
| alt =
| caption =
| fullname = Sydney Campbell Clarke
| birth_date = 5 April 1914
| birth_place = West Midland, Western Australia
| death_date = {{death date and age|1945|1|24|1914|4|5|df=yes}}
| death_place = near Tadji, Territory of New Guinea
| originalteam = Hale School
| height = 187 cm"[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article33315386 THE SANDOVER MEDAL. S. Clarke Succeeds in First Season]" – The West Australian. Published Wednesday, 20 September 1933. Retrieved from Trove, 9 September 2011.
| weight =
| position = Centre half-back, half-back flanker
| years1 = 1933–1941
| club1 = {{WAFL|Cla}}
| games_goals1 = 133 (6)
| sooyears1 = 1934–1937
| sooteam1 = Western Australia
| soogames_goals1 = 8 (0)
| careerhighlights = * Sandover Medal 1933, 1934
- {{WAFL|Cla}} premiership side 1939
- West Australian Football Hall of Fame (inducted 2005)
- Western Australian Hall of Champions (inducted 2009)
}}
Sydney Campbell "Sammy" Clarke (5 April 1914 – 24 January 1945) was an Australian rules footballer who played for {{WAFL|Cla}} in the Western Australian National Football League (WANFL) between 1933 and 1941. He won the Sandover Medal in his first two seasons in the competition, making him the first player to win the award in consecutive years. Clarke won a premiership with Claremont in 1939, and also represented Western Australia in eight interstate games. He served as a pilot with the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during World War II, but was killed in action in New Guinea towards the end of the war.
Early life
Clarke was born in West Midland, Western Australia, on 5 April 1914. His father, Sydney Clarke Sr., played football for West Adelaide in the South Australian Football Association (SAFA) and Railways in the Goldfields Football Association (GFA)."[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article38024549 THE SANDOVER MEDAL. S. Clarke Succeeds in First Season]" – Western Mail. Published 21 September 1933. Retrieved from Trove, 9 September 2011. Clarke attended Perth Boys' School and Hale School,"[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article58704438 SANDOVER MEDAL - Combine Defender Successful]" – Sunday Times. Published 24 September 1933. Retrieved from Trove, 9 September 2011. and captained the Western Australian schoolboys' side at the 1928 National Carnival in Brisbane, and Hale School's First XVIII in 1930. Clarke played for the Pastimes Football Club (now the Carey Park Football Club) in the Bunbury district football competition in 1931,{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20040705145407/http://fullpointsfooty.net/ci-cl.htm#Sydney%20Clarke%20%28Claremont%29 Sydney Clarke (Claremont/Claremont-Cottesloe)]}} – FullPointsFooty. Retrieved 9 September 2011. before returning to Perth in 1932 to play for Nedlands in the Metropolitan Junior Football Association. He captained the club to the 1932 premiership, and also won the Strempel Medal for the best player in that competition.[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article37763264 Metropolitan Juniors] – The Western Mail. Published 15 September 1932. Retrieved from Trove, 10 April 2012.
WANFL career
Clarke was recruited to {{WAFL|CC}} for the 1933 season, having been considered one of the best juniors in Western Australia the previous season. Clarke had an outstanding season, winning the Sandover Medal for the fairest and best player in the competition, despite his club winning the wooden spoon that season.[http://www.wais.org.au/other/hallofchampions_detail.php?ID=115 Sydney (Sammy) Clarke] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321223937/http://www.wais.org.au/other/hallofchampions_detail.php?ID=115 |date=21 March 2012 }} – WA Hall of Champions inductees – WAIS. Retrieved 9 September 2011. He again won the medal in 1934, becoming the first back-to-back winner of the award. He missed the 1938 premiership win while undergoing training in England with the Royal Air Force (RAF), having worked his way overseas and back on a freighter.[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article78773751 FOOTBALL SAM CLARKE MISSING] – The Daily News. Published 31 January 1945. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
During the 1939 season, Clarke played in Claremont's premiership-winning team and also played his 100th game for the club. In the off-season, he purchased a mercery business in Busselton, and thus did not play in the WANFL in 1940.[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article78972339 Claremont Lose S. Clarke] – The Daily News. Published 27 January 1940. Retrieved 27 August 2012. He returned to Perth prior to the beginning of the 1941 season, with Claremont enlisting his services for one final season.[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article78820231 Sam Clarke Back In Perth] – The Daily News. Published 8 March 1941. Retrieved 27 August 2012. Clarke finished his WANFL career with 133 games and six goals.[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article79239050 CLARKE GETS CENTURY] – The Daily News. Published 20 May 1939. Retrieved 27 August 2012. He also represented Western Australia in eight interstate matches, captaining the side against South Australia at Leederville Oval in 1934 and playing in the 1937 Australian National Football Carnival, which Perth hosted.
Military career and death
Clarke enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force in July 1942, and was posted to the No. 8 Squadron as a flying officer.[http://www.ww2roll.gov.au/VeteranCertificate.aspx?VeteranID=1043449 Certificate for Sydney Campbell Clarke] – WW2 Nominal Roll. Retrieved 10 April 2012. In January 1945, Clarke was the pilot of a Bristol Beaufort (serial number A9-630), with three other crew on board, which was presumed missing after failing to return from an anti-submarine sweep, his first active mission, near Tadji in the Territory of New Guinea.[http://www.adf-serials.com/2a9-601.shtml A9 DAP / Bristol Beaufort] – ADF Aircraft Serial Numbers. Retrieved 10 April 2012. Clarke's name is featured on the War Memorial in Lae.[http://www.awm.gov.au/research/people/roll_of_honour/person.asp?p=552836 Roll of Honour - Sydney Campbell Clarke] – Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 9 September 2011. In 1952, the Claremont Football Club established the Sammy Clarke Memorial Medal for the best player in the under-15 district football competition.[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49054263 CHAMPION'S MEMORIAL] – The West Australian. Published 24 September 1952. Retrieved 27 August 2012. Clarke was inducted into the West Australian Football Hall of Fame in 2005, and into the Western Australian Hall of Champions in 2009.[http://wafootball.com.au/resources/doc_download/4-hall-of-fame-inductees WA Football Hall of Fame inductees] – West Australian Football Commission. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
References
{{Commons category}}
{{Reflist|30em}}
{{Sandover Medal winners}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Sammy}}
Category:Australian military personnel killed in World War II
Category:Australian rules footballers from Perth, Western Australia
Category:Carey Park Football Club players
Category:Claremont Football Club players
Category:People educated at Hale School
Category:Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II
Category:Sandover Medal winners
Category:West Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees
Category:Australian World War II pilots
Category:Missing in action of World War II