Clarence Frederick Thomas "Clarrie" Bourton (30 September 1908 – 1981) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

for

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

and

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

. He is Coventry City's all-time leading goalscorer with 182 goals.

Life and career

Born in

Paulton Paulton () is a large village and civil parish, with a population of 5,302, located to the north of the Mendip Hills, very close to Norton Radstock in the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset (BANES), England. Paulton is a form ...

, Bourton was a primarily a

centre forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on be ...

, but could also play as an

inside forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

. He played non-league football for Paulton United before being signed by

, making his debut in

in April 1928. He scored one goal in four appearances towards the end of the 1927–28 season. That summer he was transferred to

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

holders

and scored on his debut in a 1–1 draw at home to Bury. Bourton scored six goals in his first four matches, including all four in a 4–1 win against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

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 ...

, and finished the season with 15 goals in 34 league and cup games as the club finished seventh in the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

, which was their best since the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He lost his place in the team to Les Bruton at the start of the following campaign, however he returned on Christmas Day 1929 to score in a 5–3 win against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

and finished the season with 23 goals in 26 games, including four in a 7–5 win against

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramall ...

. Rovers finished sixth in the league. In his last season at

Ewood Park Ewood Park () is a Association football, football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the English Football League, Football League and Premier League, who have played there since ...

, he scored four goals in 11 matches. Harry Storer was appointed

manager in April 1931 and, having noticed him while Storer played for

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

, Bourton joined the club ahead of the 1931–32 season. He finished as the Football League's top goalscorer that season, having found the net 49 times in the Third Division South, including seven

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

s. He scored 40 league goals the following season, and received honours in 1936 when Coventry were promoted to the Second Division as Third Division South champions. During his six seasons with the club, Coventry scored 577 league goals and Bourton contributed 173 of them in 228 appearances. He was transferred to Second Division rivals

at the age of 29. His time with the club was brief. Bourton made his debut in October 1937 and scored three goals in nine league and cup appearances. He made the last of those appearances in January 1938 and then returned to Bristol City. He was appointed as the club's

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

and in October filled in for Bob Hewison as

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

. Hewison was accused of making illegal payments to amateur players and was suspended until the end of the season after an inquiry by

the Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

and the Football League. Bourton was manager for seven months and City finished eighth in Third Division South before Hewison returned in May 1939. He scored 14 league goals in 57 appearances before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

brought his career to a premature end. He continued to work for the club after his retirement from playing and was employed in the pools office until shortly before his death in 1981.

Honours

* Coventry City F.C. Hall of Fame

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bourton, Clarrie 1908 births People from Paulton English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Bristol City F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players English Football League players English football managers Bristol City F.C. managers 1981 deaths 20th-century English sportsmen