Claude Hamilton Clough (8 October 1884 – 23 February 1922) was an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played with St Kilda in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football competition in Australia operated by the Australian Football League (AFL) as a second-tier, regional, semi-professional competition. It includes teams from clubs based in east ...

(VFL) during the early 1900s. He holds the record as the youngest-ever player in the league, having made his debut at 15 years, 209 days. Until March 2012, the record was thought to be held by Keith Bromage, who made his debut at 15 years and 287 days. Research by the official

AFL AFL may refer to: Education * Angel Foundation for Learning, a Canadian Roman Catholic charity * Ankara Science High School, a high school in Ankara, Turkey, natively referred to as ''Ankara Fen Liesi'' * Assessment for learning Military * ...

historians discovered that Clough was born in 1884, not the previously thought 1880. Clough's first game of league football in

1900 As of March 1 ( O.S. February 17), when the Julian calendar acknowledged a leap day and the Gregorian calendar did not, the Julian calendar fell one day further behind, bringing the difference to 13 days until February 28 ( O.S. February 15 ...

was notable, as the result of the match was overturned almost a week after the game concluded. The match finished as a draw, with both teams having scored 68 points, but a point kicked by at the end of the third quarter was later disallowed and St Kilda was awarded the win. (It would take 106 years before another game's result would be later overturned—coincidentally involving St Kilda—in the infamous Sirengate match.) The 1900 victory with Clough also marked St Kilda's first win since they entered the league in

1897 Events January * January 2 – The International Alpha Omicron Pi sorority is founded, in New York City. * January 4 – A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosere, son-in-law of the ruler. This leads to a punitive expedit ...

, and it was their only win for the season. Clough died at his home in Fulton Street, St Kilda, in February 1922, aged 37.

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* 1884 births 1922 deaths Australian Rules footballers: place kick exponents St Kilda Football Club players Collegians Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Melbourne People from St Kilda, Victoria 19th-century Australian sportsmen {{AFL-bio-1884-stub