Clark: Andrew (Andy)

1906-1907 (Leeds City Player Details)

Left Back

Born: Ballingry, Lochore, Fife, Scotland: 7th October 1879

Debut: v Bradford City (h): 01-09-1906

5’7” 13st 0lb (1903)

A Scottish Junior International, Clark started his career in Scottish Football with Hamilton Academical in July 1897 before moving to Buckhaven United in 1898 without playing First team football for either Clubs. However, but he soon made his League debut ater a move to Heart of Midlothian in August 1899, making his debut against Rangers on 2nd September 1899. He went on to make sixteen Scottish League and six Scottish Cup appearances in the 1899-1900 season, but then ran foul of the disciplinary problems in the 1900-1901 season, when he played fifteen League games and two more in the Cup. He had started thirty-one League and eight Cup games when he was sold to English First Division Stoke in May 1901. He soon became a regular with Stoke, appearing thirty-four times in the League and three times in the F.A. Cup in the 1901-02 season. There was a further eighteen in the League in the League to take him to fifty-two and he also added four more to take his Cup appearances to seven for a final total of fifty-nine appearance for the Potters by the end of the 1902-03 season. He returned to Scotland for one season with East Fife in 1903-04. The new club adopted green and white hoops and took over Leven Thistle’s Town Hall Park ground, renaming it Bayview Park. In June 1904, after two applications to join the Northern League were rejected, East Fife helped form the Eastern League, which drew its members from Fife and the Lothians. However, by that time Clark had returned to England with Southern League Plymouth Argyle. He made his debut for Argyle at left back In the Western League 1-0 away win over West Ham United on Tuesday 1st September 1904 in front of a crowd of 4,000 and quickly followed with his Southern League debut on Saturday 5th September 1904 in a 2-0 home win over Northampton Town in front of a crowd of 4,438. By the end of the 1903-04 season he had started forty-five League and seven F.A. Cup games but in those fifty-two games he could not find the net. He was again almost an ever-present in the League, when he made forty-seven League appearances and for more in the F.A. Cup, as the fifty-one games took him over the one hundred appeances to one hundred and three. In his third season at Home Park he added a further thirty-seven League and three F.A. Cup games, as he made his final appearance for the Pilgrims on Wednesday 25th April 1906 in a 2-3 home defeat by Watford. He finally opened his goal account for Plymouth, but left it to almost his final game before opening the score in a 2-0 home win over Luton Town on 14th April 1906. So he left Home Park after one hundred and forty-three appearances in total and one goal. He then joined Second Division Leeds City in May 1906, going straight into the Leeds first team in partnership with a fellow countryman in David Murray. He missed only one of the earlier games, but then lost his position to Jimmy Freeborough. Clark returned to the side on 2nd February 1907, playing in a 1-1 home draw with Blackpool. Flaneur in the Leeds Mercury said: "This equalising goal was perhaps a fortunate score from the fact that Andrew Clark, who was playing at left-back for Leeds after a long course with the reserves, slipped on the frozen ground when endeavouring to tackle the outside right Jackie Copestake, and gave the Blackpool right wing a clear course. The ball was centred well, and the left-winger George Dunkley put it through with a very cool shot." Despite that Clark had strarted another run as first choice, before missing the four final games of the season to leave him with twenty-four appearances in the League for the season. He moved to Southern League Brentford before the start of the 1907-08 season. He went on to make twenty-three League and two in the F.A. Cup in that season. He finished his football career with Southend United at the end of the 1908-09 season. On retirement he went back north and died on 10th August 1940, in Wemyss, Fife, Scotland