Jack E. Clarke
| Jack Clarke | |||
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| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Jack E. Clarke | ||
| Date of birth | 14 July 1933 | ||
| Date of death | 3 December 2001 (aged 68) | ||
| Place of death | Melbourne, Victoria | ||
| Original team | Essendon High School | ||
| Height/Weight | 175cm / 78kg | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1951–1967 | Essendon | 263 (180) | |
| Coaching career3 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (W–L–D) | |
| 1968–1970 | Essendon | 65 (33–30–2) | |
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1 Playing statistics to end of 1967 season .
3 Coaching statistics correct as of 1970.
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| Career highlights | |||
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Jack E. Clarke (14 July 1933 – 3 December 2001) was an Australian rules footballer and coach in the VFL. An Essendon and Victorian champion, Clarke was one of the premier midfielders of the VFL for well over a decade, leading the mighty Dons to the flag in 1962 when captain and also playing in the victorious 1965 side. Inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, Clarke's place in Essendon Football Club history was set in stone when in 1997 he was named the centreman of the Essendon Team of the Century. Along with his brother, Ron Clarke, the Clarkes form perhaps the most impressive one-two sibling combination in different sports that Australia has ever seen.
Clarke was a talented centreman who debuted on his eighteenth birthday in 1951 and played 263 games for the Essendon Football Club from 1951 to 1967, kicking 180 goals. At the time of his retirement he was third in the all-time ranks of both games played (263) and games captained (121) at Essendon, on both occasions being bested by his mid-field predecessors, Bill Hutchison and Dick Reynolds, under whose guidance, and in whose immense shadows, he had played his entire career.
Clarke played in strong Essendon teams that featured legends such as Bill Hutchison, John Coleman, John Birt, Barry Davis, Hugh Mitchell and Ken Fraser, but Clarke was never overlooked by opposition coaches and proved a regular near the head of the Essendon Best and Fairest award, winning the award in 1958 and 1962.
Clarke was not as successful in the Brownlow Medal, with best finishes of equal 6th in 1958, and equal 7th in 1953 at the age of 20. In comparison, in the Premiershp year of 1962, when Clarke was captain and club Best and Fairest, teammate Ken Fraser polled 19 Brownlow votes, finishing equal second.
Clarke captained the Dons from 1958 to 1964, one of only four men to lead the club in a thirty season period (1939–1968) that yielded six Premierships from fourteen Grand Finals.
Clarke was also a noted architect who had studied during the early stages of his VFL career. He was inducted into the Australian Football Hall of Fame in 1996, and was the brother of former Olympian Ron Clarke.
He took over from John Coleman as Essendon coach in 1968, taking the team to the Grand Final, which they narrowly lost. He was replaced as coach at the end of the 1970 season when Essendon finished 11th (of 12).
Clarke, whose legend has perhaps unduly faded with time, will be forever remembered by long time Essendon supporters as one of their finest leaders, continuing in the line of great Essendon and Victorian midfield generals Reynolds and Hutchison. Between them these three men would lead the Dons in almost 500 VFL matches over 25 seasons, winning 6 Flags, 5 Brownlows and 16 Best and Fairest awards between them.
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| Preceded by John Coleman |
Essendon Football Club coach 1968–1970 |
Succeeded by John Birt |
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