Clive Sullivan

Clive Sullivan

Personal information
Full name	Clive A. Sullivan
Born	9 April 1943(1943-04-09) Cardiff, Wales
Died	8 October 1985(1985-10-08) (aged 42) Hull, England
Playing information
Rugby union
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
	Army Rugby Union
Rugby league
Position	Wing
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1961–1973	Hull	352	250	0	0	750
1974–1981	Hull KR	213	118	0	0	354
1981	Oldham	18	3			9
≤1984–1984	Doncaster
	Total	583	371	0	0	1113
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1967–1973	Great Britain	17				40
1969–1979	Wales	15	7			21
As of 20 July 2010

Clive A. Sullivan MBE (born 9 April 1943 in Cardiff, died 8 October 1985 in Hull) was a Welsh rugby union and professional Rugby League World Cup winning footballer of the 1960s, 70s and 80s. A Great Britain and Wales international winger, he played with both Hull and Hull Kingston Rovers in his career, and also played for Oldham, and Doncaster. He was the first black captain of the Great Britain Lions and for any national British sporting side.^[1]

Rugby career

Whilst growing up in the Splott district of Cardiff as a young teenager, he required operations on his knees, feet and shoulders. Due to the extent of these operations, a rugby career seemed unlikely. Sullivan never gave up, however, and he overcame his early childhood trauma by being granted a trial by Bradford Northern Rugby League Club at the age of just 17. Bradford however, passed on the young winger.

Rugby league club Hull, had different ideas about Sullivan and gave the young man, who boasted phenomenal speed, a chance to play rugby league. In his debut for Hull, Sullivan had an outstanding game and gained the support of the Hull club and city. Sullivan became known for his exceptional speed and the way he would outplay rugby league's finest opposition wingers. His upper-body was deceptively strong which gave him excellent cover defence. Despite his knees which haunted his childhood requiring constant attention and further operations, he played a total of 352 games for Hull, scoring 250 tries. In his 213 games for Hull K.R. he scored 118 tries.

His international career took him to great heights having made his debut for Great Britain in 1967. The following year he played three World Cup matches, grabbing a hat-trick against New Zealand. In 1969, he toured Australasia, but only participated in one game due to injury. He however won a further three test caps against New Zealand in 1971. In 1972 he was handed the captaincy of Great Britain and played two tests against France. The World Cup took place that same year, and he captained Great Britain to become world champions. He scored a try in each of Great Britain's four games. Sullivan scored possibly the most famous try in the history of the World Cup to level 10-10 against Australia in the final, after a length of the field run.

In 1973 his Great Britain career came to an end with three tests against Australia. The 1975 World Cup saw Sullivan lead Wales in all four matches, scoring a try in the defeat of England in the second game for the Welsh team. Wales ended up finishing 3rd in the five-team World Cup.

Sullivan was unexpected called back into the Hull FC team in 1982 after a period on the coaching staff. At the age of 39 he played in the Challenge Cup Final replay at Elland road which Hull won against Widnes.

When Sullivan died of cancer in 1985 aged just 42,^[2] the city of Hull held him in such high regard that a section of the city's main approach road (the A63) between the Humber Bridge and the city centre was renamed Clive Sullivan Way in his honour.^[3]

Sullivan represented Great Britain 17 times and appeared at three World Cups, 1968 and 1972 with Great Britain and in 1975 for Wales.

Career records

Clive Sullivan still holds two records for Hull which are: Most tries in a career (250) and most tries in a match (7) against Doncaster on 15 April 1968, and is one of less than twenty-five Welshmen to have scored more than 1000-points in their rugby league career.^[4]

Genealogical information

His son, Anthony Sullivan, went on to have a distinguished career with Wales (RL), Hull Kingston Rovers, St Helens, Wales (RU), and Cardiff RFC.

References

1. ^ Spracklen, Karl (2001). 'Black Pearl, Black Diamonds' Exploring racial identities in rugby league. Routledge. ISBN 0415246296, 9780415246293. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=T3NMCF79r6wC&dq=%22rugby+league%22&source=gbs_navlinks_s. 
2. ^ Paul Fletcher & Phil Harlow (22 October 2008). "When Great Britain won the World Cup". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_league/7656503.stm. Retrieved 17 January 2008. 
3. ^ "Clive Sullivan remembered during Black History Month". BBC News (BBC). 21 October 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/humberside/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_9114000/9114179.stm. Retrieved 26 October 2010. 
4. ^ Robert Gate (1988). "Gone North - Volume 2". R. E. Gate. ISBN 0-9511190-3-6

External links

• Clive Sullivan at wales.rleague.com
• Clive Sullivan - Hull KR, biography of his Hull KR years, by sporthull.co.uk
• Clive Sullivan - Hull FC, biography of his Hull FC years, by sporthull.co.uk
• Waite makes his Australia debut
• When Great Britain won the World Cup
• Tracking down the heroes of 1972
• Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org
• Statistics at orl-heritagetrust.org.uk

Persondata
Name	Sullivan, Clive
Alternative names
Short description	Welsh rugby league player
Date of birth	9 April 1943
Place of birth	Cardiff
Date of death	8 October 1985
Place of death	Hull