Norman Childers "Hackenschmidt" Clark (12 November 1878 – 26 December 1943) 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 for the

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Princes Park (stadium), Princes Park in Carlton North, Victoria, Carlton North, an inner suburb of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. The c ...

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) between

1905 As the second year of the massive Russo-Japanese War begins, more than 100,000 die in the largest world battles of that era, and the war chaos leads to the 1905 Russian Revolution against Nicholas II of Russia (Shostakovich's 11th Symphony i ...

and

1912 This year is notable for Sinking of the Titanic, the sinking of the ''Titanic'', which occurred on April 15. In Albania, this leap year runs with only 353 days as the country achieved switching from the Julian to Gregorian Calendar by skippin ...

Family

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

Early career

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

North Adelaide North Adelaide is a predominantly residential precinct (Australia), precinct and suburb of the City of Adelaide in South Australia, situated north of the River Torrens and within the Adelaide Park Lands. Laid out in a grid plan in three section ...

. A talented sprinter, in 1899 he won the

Stawell Gift The Stawell Gift is Australia's oldest and richest short-distance running race. It is the main event in an annual carnival held on Easter weekend by the Stawell Athletic Club, with the main race finals on the holiday Monday, at Central Park, S ...

in 11⁴⁄₅ seconds off a handicap of 14 and a half yards. His prize of 50 gold sovereigns was used to buy a handmade gold

pocket watch A pocket watch is a watch that is made to be carried in a pocket, as opposed to a wristwatch, which is strapped to the wrist. They were the most common type of watch from their development in the 16th century until wristwatches became popula ...

, 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 The Stawell Football Club is an Australian rules football club which competes in the Wimmera Football League (WFL). It is based in the town of Stawell, Victoria Stawell ( "stall"), is an Australian town in the Wimmera region of Victoria (Austr ...

VFL career

Upon his arrival at Carlton in

, his teammates noticed his exceptional physique and nicknamed him "Hackenschmidt" after the famous

strongman Strongman is a competitive strength sport which tests athletes' physical strength and endurance through a variety of heavy lifts and events. Strongman competitions are known for their intensity, pushing athletes to their physical and mental limit ...

and

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

Georg Hackenschmidt Georg Karl Julius Hackenschmidt (1 August 1877 – 19 February 1968) was an Estonian strongman, amateur and professional wrestler, writer, and sports philosopher who is recognized as professional wrestling's first world heavyweight champion. ...

. He played in three consecutive premiership sides for Carlton (

1906 Events January–February * January 12 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: A nationalistic coalition of merchants, religious leaders and intellectuals in Persia forces the shah Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar to grant a constitution, ...

1907 Events January * January 14 – 1907 Kingston earthquake: A 6.5 Moment magnitude scale, Mw earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica, kills between 800 and 1,000. February * February 9 – The "Mud March (suffragists), Mud March", the ...

, and

1908 This is the longest year in either the Julian or Gregorian calendars, having a duration of 31622401.38 seconds of Terrestrial Time (or ephemeris time), measured according to the definition of mean solar time. Events January * January ...

) and continued until

. 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 This year saw the beginning of what became known as the First World War, after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austrian throne was Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassinated by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip ...

– 15; he was with

Charlie Hammond Charles William Hammond (19 March 1886 – 4 December 1936) was an Australian rules footballer who played with the Carlton Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Hammond is notable as the only footballer in history to play in five ...

, 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 Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

. In his only season, he took the Tigers to the Grand Final. He attained the rare feat of coaching two separate clubs in VFL Grand Finals. Clark returned to Carlton in

1920 Events January * January 1 ** Polish–Soviet War: The Russian Red Army increases its troops along the Polish border from 4 divisions to 20. ** Kauniainen in Finland, completely surrounded by the city of Espoo, secedes from Espoo as its ow ...

and coached for two and a 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 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 ...

(VFA) side

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

in 1913. 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 ; after ten winless games, he resigned.

Death

Clark died on

Boxing Day Boxing Day, also called as Offering Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Boxing Day was once a day to donate gifts to those in need, but it has evolved to become a part ...

in 1943.Deaths: Clark, ''The Age'', (Monday, 27 December 1943), p.3Obituary: Mr Norman Clark, ''The Argus'', (Monday, 27 December 1943), p.8.
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Footnotes

References

* Hogan P: ''The Tigers Of Old'', Richmond FC, Melbourne 1996
De Bolto, Anthony, "Carlton Legend Certificate Surfaces", ''blueseum.com'', 2 January 2007.

External links

* *
Blueseum Biography: Norman Clark

Blueseum Article: Norman Clark 20/01/2006

MCC Article Excerpt Carlton vs. Richmond 14/08/2010

Boyles Football Photos: Norman Clark.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Norm 1878 births 1943 deaths Australian rules footballers from South Australia Stawell Gift winners North Adelaide Football Club players Carlton Football Club players Carlton Football Club premiership players Carlton Football Club coaches Carlton Football Club premiership coaches Richmond Football Club coaches St Kilda Football Club coaches North Melbourne Football Club coaches Prahran Football Club coaches Brighton Football Club coaches Stawell Football Club players Brighton Football Club players VFL/AFL premiership players VFL/AFL premiership coaches