Norman Clark
Clark in 1907
Personal information
Full name Norman Childers Clark
Nickname(s) Hackenschmidt
Date of birth (1878-11-12)12 November 1878
Place of birth North Adelaide, South Australia
Date of death 26 December 1943(1943-12-26) (aged 65)
Place of death Fitzroy, Victoria
Original team(s) Stawell
Height 170 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Weight 86 kg (190 lb)
Position(s) Half back flank
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1897–1903 North Adelaide 82 (5)
1905–1912 Carlton 126 (3)
Coaching career3
Years Club Games (W–L–D)
1912 Carlton 20 0(15–5–0)
1913 Brighton 18 0(5–13–0)
1914–1918 Carlton 86 (59–23–4)
1919 Richmond 19 0(12–7–0)
1920–1922 Carlton 44 (28–14–2)
1924 North Melbourne 18 0(10–8–0)
1925–1926 St Kilda 35 (14–21–0)
1929 Prahran 22 0(5–16–1)
1931 North Melbourne 10 0(0–10–0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1912.
3 Coaching statistics correct as of 1931.
Career highlights

Player

Coach

Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Norman Childers "Hackenschmidt" Clark (12 November 1878 – 26 December 1943) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Carlton Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) between 1905 and 1912.

Family

The son of Edward John Clark, and Margaret Clark, née Cooper, Norman Childers Clark was born on 12 November 1878.[1] He married Eileen Florence Fleming (1888–1983) on 11 June 1918. They had two children: Norman Adrian Clark (1919–1998),[2] and Bryan Childers Clark (1923–2003).[3]

Early career

Prior to joining Carlton, he had played in two premiership teams at North Adelaide.

A talented sprinter, in 1899 he won the 130-yard (120 m) Stawell Gift in 114⁄5 seconds off a handicap of 14 and a half yards.[4] His prize of 50 gold sovereigns was used to buy a handmade gold pocket watch, in which he had his initials 'N.C.C.' inscribed. He moved to Stawell, hoping to win another Gift, and he played two seasons with Stawell Football Club.

VFL career

Upon his arrival at Carlton in 1905, his teammates noticed his exceptional physique and nicknamed him "Hackenschmidt" after the famous strongman and professional wrestler Georg Hackenschmidt.[5]

He played in three consecutive premiership sides for Carlton (1906, 1907, and 1908) and continued until 1912. He then captain-coached Brighton in the VFA in 1913 before retiring.

Coaching

He was playing coach of Carlton in 1912 before moving to Brighton in 1913. In 1914 he was back at Carlton and coaching Carlton to back-to-back premierships in 1914–15; he was with Charlie Hammond, the only two people involved in Carlton's first five VFL flags.

After leaving Carlton at the end of the 1918 season, he took up the head coaching role at Richmond. In his only season, he took the Tigers to the Grand Final. This attained him the rare feat of coaching two separate clubs in VFL Grand Finals.

Clark returned to Carlton in 1920 and coached for two anda half years before resigning in mid-1922.

Clark was also the coach of VFL sides St Kilda in 1925–26

He was captain-coach of Victorian Football Association (VFA) side Brighton in 1913.[6] He coached junior and senior football for seventeen seasons in the VFA, the VFL and for Blackburn in the Ringwood Districts Football Association, with four more premierships to his credit by the time he retired after the 1931 season.

In 1931 he was appointed coach of North Melbourne; after ten winless games, he resigned.

Death

Clark died on Boxing Day in 1943.[7]

Footnotes

References

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