Clive Best (4 August 1931 – 17 April 2013) was a Welsh

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

, and 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 played in the 1950s. He played representative level rugby union (RU) for Welsh Schoolboys, and at club level for

Ebbw Vale RFC Ebbw Vale Rugby Football Club () is a Welsh Rugby Union Club based in the town of Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent, South Wales. The club play in the Super Rygbi Cymru and act as a feeder club for the Dragons regional team. History Evidence of rugb ...

, as a full-back, and then to usurp the ban on rugby league players, he subsequently played rugby union under the guise of his older brother, Desmond Best, for Romford and Gidea Park Rugby Club, and later Phyllosans RFC

(over 40s) until 1981 when he was 50, and club level rugby league (RL) for Barrow and

Bradford Northern The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...

(

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

), as a , or .

Background

Clive Best was born in

Tredegar Tredegar (; ) is a town and community situated on the banks of the Sirhowy River in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent, in the southeast of Wales. Within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, it became an early centre of the Industrial R ...

, Wales, he worked in the Accounts Department in the

Vickers-Armstrongs Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927. The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, w ...

Shipbuilders in

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town and civil parish (as just "Barrow") in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the county of Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borou ...

, he trained as a social worker, and he and his wife Gay became residential

Social Workers Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

Hornchurch Hornchurch is a suburban town in East London in the London Borough of Havering. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross. It comprises a number of shopping streets and a large residential area. It historically formed a large ancient par ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, he later became a Senior Advisor in the Social Services, by 1980 he had qualified as a teacher, and he and Gay became Principal, and Matron (respectively) of a Residential School in Cwmbran. Following rugby union becoming professional, he was re-instated by the Welsh Rugby Union, and became the Chairman of the Welsh Counties RFC, Secretary of the Breconshire County RFC, and Chairman of the

Past Players Association, and he died aged 81 in

Crickhowell Crickhowell (; , non-standard spelling ') is a town and community (Wales), community in southeastern Powys, Wales, near Abergavenny, and is in the historic counties of Wales, historic county of Brecknockshire. Location The town lies on th ...

, Wales.

Playing career

On 21 November 1952, Best changed

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union or rugby league. Rugby football started at Rugby School in Rugby, Warwickshire, England, where the rules were first codified in 1845. Forms of football in which the ball ...

codes from

when he transferred from

Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; ) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr conurbation has a ...

to Barrow, for a signing-on fee of £900 (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £62,900 in 2016), with which he bought 23 Windsor Street, Barrow. He had previously had a trial at

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

, but had declined an offer to join them. He made his début for Barrow against Bramley at

Craven Park, Barrow-in-Furness Craven Park (also referred to as the Northern Competitions Stadium for sponsorship reasons) is a rugby league stadium in Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, England. It is the home of Barrow Raiders rugby league team. Rugby league Craven Park was bui ...

on Saturday 22 November 1952. He played in Barrow's 21-12 victory over

Workington Town Workington Town is a semi-professional rugby league club based in Workington, West Cumbria, England. The club plays home games at Derwent Park and competes in the RFL League One, League One, the third tier of British rugby league system, Briti ...

in the

1954–55 Challenge Cup The 1954–55 Challenge Cup was the 54th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. First round Second round Quarterfinals Semifinals Final This is the only all-Cumbrian Final to date, although its occurre ...

Final during the 1954–55 season at

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 ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on Saturday 30 April 1955, in front of a crowd of 66,513. He left Barrow in 1956, and was replaced by

Joe Ball Joseph Douglas Ball (January 7, 1896 – September 24, 1938) was an American murderer and suspected serial killer, sometimes referred to as the "Alligator Man", the "Butcher of Elmendorf" and the "Bluebeard of South Texas". Background Josep ...

. He played his last match for Barrow against

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home fixtures at the DIY Kitchen Stadium, Belle Vue (Wakefield), Belle Vue and currently compete in the Super League, the top tier o ...

at Belle Vue,

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

on Saturday 24 March 1956.

Genealogical information

Clive Best's marriage to Gay (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Phillips) (c.1930s – 2012) was registered during third ¼ 1954 in

district. They had children; Rhodri Best
birth registered
first ¼ in

), and Deri Best
birth registered
fourth ¼ in

Romford Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...

). Rhodri and Deri both went on to play for

London Welsh RFC London Welsh Rugby Football Club () was a rugby union club formed in 1885. Based in Old Deer Park, Richmond-upon-Thames, London Welsh RFC played in the English Premiership in the 2012–13 and 2014–15 seasons, after gaining promotion from ...

References

External links

Search for "Best" at rugbyleagueproject.orgClive Best RIP
{{DEFAULTSORT:Best, Clive 1931 births 2013 deaths 20th-century Welsh sportsmen Barrow Raiders players Bradford Bulls players Ebbw Vale RFC players Rugby league centres Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Tredegar Rugby league wingers Rugby union fullbacks Rugby union players from Tredegar Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players