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| Full name | Clive Anthony Sullivan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1943-04-09)9 April 1943 Splott,Cardiff, Wales | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 8 October 1985(1985-10-08) (aged 42) Hull,Humberside, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Position | Wing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Relatives | Tony Sullivan (son) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Clive Anthony SullivanMBE (9 April 1943 – 8 October 1985) was a Welshrugby league footballer. A Great Britain and Wales international winger, he played forHull FC andHull Kingston Rovers in his career, winningChallenge Cup medals with both clubs, and also played forOldham andDoncaster. CaptainingGreat Britain in 1972,[1] he was the first black captain for Great Britain in any sport.[3] He was part of the Great Britain team which won the1972 Rugby League World Cup. His son,Anthony Sullivan, had a successful career with Hull Kingston Rovers,St. Helens, Wales in both rugby league and union, andCardiff RFC.
Sullivan was born inSplott, a suburb ofCardiff on 9 April 1943.[4][5] His mother's family was fromAntigua and his father wasJamaican. Sullivan's early playing career was plagued by injury; multiple operations left doctors uncertain he would ever walk normally, and the prospect of a professional career in rugby seemed improbable.[6] In 1961 he joined thearmy after leaving school and working for a while as a motor mechanic. He was posted toCatterick in theNorth Riding of Yorkshire, and while there was picked for an inter-corps rugby match on account of being Welsh. Sullivan chose to play in the match as admitting to having a major injury would have led to his being invalided out of the army. His plan was to deliberately play badly to avoid being picked again. However, instinct took over and after scoring a long distance try with no ill effects, he decided to make the most of the army training to further progress his hopes of playing rugby.
After an unsuccessful trial game atBradford Northern, he was approached by the touch judge from the game and offered a trial atHull. His trial at Hull was a different story. Dubbed "Mr. X" by theHull Daily Mail,[7] he scored three tries on his debut againstBramley on 9 December 1961, and signed as a professional the following day.[8]
Sullivan's first three seasons were restricted by his army duties, three knee operations and a nearly fatal car crash in October 1963, although he returned to play again just three months after the accident. He left the army after a spell inCyprus in 1964. Free of his army commitments he returned to Hull in time to play the last game of the season.
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 début for Hull, Sullivan had an outstanding game and gained the support of the Hull club and city. Sullivan became known for his exceptional speed. His upper body was deceptively strong, which gave him excellent cover defence.[citation needed] Despite his knees requiring constant attention and further operations, Sullivan played a total of 352 games for Hull, scoring 250tries. In his 213 games forHull Kingston Rovers he scored 118 tries.
Sullivan played on thewing and scored atry inHull FC's 12–9 victory overFeatherstone Rovers in the1969–70 Yorkshire Cup Final atHeadingley Rugby Stadium,Leeds on Saturday 20 September 1969,
He was captain-coach ofHull F.C. from 1973 to '74.[9] He was awarded anMBE in the1974 New Year Honours list for services to rugby league.[10]
In April 1974, Sullivan joinedHull Kingston Rovers for a fee of £3,250. He made his debut for Rovers againstDoncaster in August 1974.[11]
Sullivan played on thewing (replaced bysubstituteGerald Dunn) inHull Kingston Rovers' 16–13 victory overWakefield Trinity in the1974–75 Yorkshire Cup Final at Headingley Stadium, Leeds on Saturday 26 October 1974, and played on thewing and scored a try in the 11–15 defeat byLeeds in the1975–76 Yorkshire Cup Final at Headingley, Leeds on Saturday 15 November 1975.
Sullivan played on thewing and scored a try in Hull Kingston Rovers' 26–11 victory overSt. Helens in the1977 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final atCraven Park,Hull on Tuesday 13 December 1977, and played on thewing in the 3–13 defeat by Hull F.C. in the1979 BBC2 Floodlit Trophy Final atthe Boulevard,Hull on Tuesday 18 December 1979.
Sullivan played on thewing in Hull Kingston Rovers' 10-5 victory [over Hull F.C] in the1979–80 Challenge Cup Final atWembley Stadium,London on Saturday 3 May 1980, in front of a crowd of 95,000
In 1980, Sullivan was released by Hull KR at his own request, and subsequently joinedOldham.[11]
Sullivan returned to Hull in 1981 on the coaching staff, but made occasional appearances as a player to cover for injuries. At the age of 39, he played on thewing in the1981–82 Challenge Cup Finalreplay (replacingDane O'Hara, having played in the first match, but had subsequently been reprimanded by Hull for an off-field issue) in Hull FC's 18–9 victory overWidnes atElland Road,Leeds on Wednesday 19 May 1982, in front of a crowd of 41,171.[12]
His international career opened forGreat Britain in 1967.[1] The following year he played three World Cup matches, grabbing a hat-trick against New Zealand. In 1970, he touredAustralasia, but only participated in one test due to injury. He however won a further three testcaps 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 and scored a try to level 10–10 against Australia in the World Cup Final, after a length of the field run.
In 1973 his Great Britain career came to an end with three tests against Australia.
The1975 Rugby League World Cup saw Sullivan lead Wales in all four matches, scoring a try in the victory over England in the second game for the Welsh team. Wales finished third in the five-team World Cup.
In all, Sullivan represented Great Britain 17 times and appeared at three World Cups, 1968 and 1972 with Great Britain, and in 1975 for Wales.
When Sullivan died of cancer in 1985, aged 42,[13] the city ofHull held him in such high regard that a section of the city's main approach road, theA63 between theHumber Bridge and the city centre, was renamedClive Sullivan Way in his honour.[14]Since 2001 the Clive Sullivan Memorial Trophy has been awarded to the winner of the Rugby League local derby match between Hull and Hull Kingston Rovers in recognition of his service to both local clubs.[15]
In 1993, Sullivan was one of six inaugural members to be inducted into Hull FC's Hall of Fame. His widow Rosalyn attended the ceremony on his behalf.[16]
In December 2020, Sullivan was named as one of three Welsh rugby league players to behonoured with a new statue inCardiff Bay, the other two beingBilly Boston andGus Risman.[17] The statue was unveiled in July 2023.[18]
In April 2021, Sullivan was honoured in aGoogle Doodle to celebrate what would have been his 78th birthday.[19][20]
In September 2022, Sullivan was inducted into the BritishRugby League Hall of Fame.[21]
Sullivan still holds two records for Hull, which include the most tries in a career (250) and most tries in a match (7, againstDoncaster on 15 April 1968), and is one of fewer than twenty-five Welshmen to have scored more than 1,000 points in their rugby league career.[22]
(The figures in parentheses refer to the number of games played in the 1968 World Cup.) |
e.g. (5/8) indicates the number of games played in the 1975 World Cup. | |
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