Christopher Clarkson (born 7 April 1990) is an English professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who last played in the forward for the

York Knights The York Knights are the men's professional rugby league team of York RLFC, based in York, England. The club play their home games at York Community Stadium and currently compete in the RFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of Briti ...

in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

. He is an

England Knights England Knights is the feeder team for the England national rugby league team. The Knights play a key role in the development of emerging talent, allowing players to gain experience in an international environment and to compete for a place in ...

international. He has previously played for

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers (often abbreviated to Hull KR) are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Craven Park, Hull, Craven Park and compete in Super League, the top tier of B ...

and the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home games at Headingley Rugby Stadium, AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby lea ...

in the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

, spending a season on loan from

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

at the

Widnes Vikings The Widnes Vikings are an English rugby league club in Widnes, Cheshire, which competes in the RFL Championship, Betfred Championship. The club plays home matches at DCBL Stadium. Founded as Widnes Football Club, they are one of the original twe ...

in 2015.

Early life

Clarkson was born in

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England. Before joining Leeds, Clarkson was a pupil at

Temple Moor High School Temple Moor High School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. In recent years, it has received 'Science College' status. In 2017 an Ofsted inspection gave the school a Good rating. Histo ...

. He played for his local amateur side East Leeds. Clarkson was a new recruit for the Leeds Rhinos Academy in 2006. One year later he became a regular in the Academy side and he helped the Junior Academy side clinch the Championship. For that game he was named in the starting line-up for the victory over St. Helens in the Grand Final. He earned his place in the side after he had registered an impressive nine tries in 21 appearances over the season.

Club career

Leeds Rhinos

Clarkson made his

début for Leeds club on 19 March 2010 in a 10-17 defeat by

, deputising for Ryan Hall. He showed his versatility by playing on the , before following this up at in the following game against

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

He played in the 2010 Challenge Cup Final defeat against

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

. Clarkson played from the interchange bench for Leeds in the 2011 Challenge Cup Final defeat against Wigan at

. He played in the

2011 Super League Grand Final The 2011 Super League Grand Final was the 14th official Grand Final and the championship-deciding game of the Super League XVI season. It was held on Saturday, 8 October at Manchester, England's Old Trafford stadium. The match was contested by ...

victory over St. Helens at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

. Clarkson was part of the successful Leeds team that won the

2012 Super League Grand Final The 2012 Super League Grand Final was the 15th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League XVII season. The match was held on Saturday 6 October 2012, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was contested by ...

. Clarkson also played a winning role in Leeds

2014 Challenge Cup The 2014 Challenge Cup (also known as the Tetley's Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 113th staging of the rugby league tournament. The defending champions Wigan Warriors were knocked out in the quarter finals 4 - 16 at home to the Ca ...

Final triumph over the

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. They play their home games at Wheldon Road (currently known as the Mend-A-Hose Jungle for sponsorship reasons) and compete in the Super League, t ...

. Throughout his time with the club, Clarkson made 118 appearances for the Leeds club and registering 11 tries in total.

Widnes Vikings (loan)

In 2015, Clarkson was sent out on loan to

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, ...

, where he played 25 games and scored four tries in their

and Qualifiers campaign.

Hull Kingston Rovers

On 2 October 2015, Clarkson signed a three-year deal to play for

starting in the 2016 season. Clarkson suffered relegation from the

with Hull Kingston Rovers in the 2016 season, due to losing the

Million Pound Game Million Pound Game (stylized as £1M Game) was an annual rugby league game that decides which Championship teams will be promoted to Super League, and which Super League teams would be relegated for the following season. Instituted in 2015 and ...

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

. 12-months later however, Clarkson was part of the Hull Kingston Rovers side that won promotion back to the Super League at the first time of asking following relegation the season prior. It was revealed on 10 October 2018 that Clarkson would be departing Hull Kingston Rovers following a restructure of the club's on-field personnel.

Castleford Tigers

It was revealed on 7 January 2019, that Clarkson had been offered a trial at Castleford, in hope of earning a permanent deal at the club. It was revealed on 15 February 2019 that, after a successful trial period, Clarkson had signed a one-year contract at Castleford. He was assigned shirt number 33. Clarkson made his Castleford début on 23 February 2019, in a 6-40 victory over the

London Broncos The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, England. They play their home games at Plough Lane and currently compete in the RFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of British rugby le ...

. Clarkson scored his first try for the Castleford side on 1 March 2019, in a 32-16 triumph over his former club Hull Kingston Rovers at the

Jungle jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past century. Etymology The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅgala'' ...

. This was later named Castleford's Try of the Year at the club's end-of-season awards night.

York Knights

Clarkson joined

ahead of the 2020 season. In October 2023, Clarkson announced his retirement from rugby league at the end of the 2023 season.

Representative career

Clarkson has won representative honours with

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

and

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

at under-17's level. He has also featured for the

in 2012.

Honours

Club

Leeds Rhinos

(2):

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Challenge Cup The Rugby Football League Challenge Cup, commonly known just as the Challenge Cup is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, it is the world's old ...

(1):

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

World Club Challenge The World Club Challenge is an annual rugby league competition between the winners of the Australian National Rugby League and the British Super League, for the de facto club world championship of the sport. Super League sides have won the c ...

(1):

References

External links

Castleford Tigers profileHull KR profileLeeds Rhinos profileSL profileLEEDS RHINOS 10 V 17 HULL KINGSTON ROVERS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarkson, Chris 1990 births Living people 21st-century English sportsmen Castleford Tigers players England Knights national rugby league team players English rugby league players Hull Kingston Rovers players Leeds Rhinos players Rugby league players from Leeds Rugby league second-rows Rugby league locks Rugby league props Widnes Vikings players York Knights captains York Knights players