Clarkin: John

1911-1912 (Leeds City Player Details)

Inside Forward

Born: Ireland: Unknown

Debut: v Gainsborough Trinity (a): 26-12-1911

5’7” 10st 5lb (1911)

Clarkin started with Shelbourne in Dublin and was one of several Irish players recruited in May 1911 by Frank Scott-Walford as a cheap option at the start of the 1911-12 season. He never really made the grade with City and was limited to his debut game before returning to Ireland with Belfast City in 1912. Two years earlier, Leeds City manager Frank Scott-Walford had brought Billy Halligan and Tom Mulholland back from a trip to Ireland and in 1910 had added Mick Foley, Joe Enright, George Cunningham (all from Shelbourne), Billy Gillespie and Alec Creighton. A couple of months later, Joe Moran was one of a number of players signed from Irish clubs by Leeds City, along side John Clarkin, and Willie Briggs were also recruited from the Shels, while Belfast Celtic provided Edward McDaniel and Leslie Murphy. Frank Heaney (St James' Gate), Jack Leney (Irish Guards) and Jimmy Fortune (Distillery) were other Irish imports. A number of those players had been found wanting and moved on, but there was still a significant Irish contingent at Elland Road, many of them former team mates of Moran, and West Yorkshire was a home from home for them.