Clive Sullivan
Encyclopedia
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.
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, 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.
Sullivan represented Great Britain
17 times and appeared at three World Cups, 1968 and 1972 with Great Britain
and in 1975 for Wales.
, went on to have a distinguished career with Wales (RL), Hull Kingston Rovers, St Helens, Wales
(RU), and Cardiff RFC
.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 9 April 1943 in Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
, died 8 October 1985 in Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
) was a Welsh rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
and professional Rugby League World Cup
Rugby League World Cup
The Rugby League World Cup is an international rugby league competition contested by members of the Rugby League International Federation . It has been held nearly once every 4 years on average since its inaugural tournament in France in 1954...
winning footballer
Rugby football
Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...
of the 1960s, 70s and 80s. A Great Britain and Wales international winger, he played with both Hull and Hull Kingston Rovers
Hull Kingston Rovers
Hull Kingston Rovers or Hull KR is an English professional rugby league football club based in Hull, England. The club formed in 1882 and currently competes in Super League, having won promotion from National League One in 2006...
in his career, and also played for Oldham
Oldham Roughyeds
Oldham Roughyeds is an English professional rugby league club based in Oldham, Greater Manchester. They currently play in the Championship One. Oldham is one of the original twenty-two rugby clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895....
, and Doncaster. He was the first black captain of the Great Britain Lions
Great Britain national rugby league team
The Great Britain national rugby league team represents the United Kingdom in rugby league football. Administered by the Rugby Football League , the team is nicknamed "The Lions" or "Great Britain Lions"....
and for any national British sporting side.
Rugby career
Whilst growing up in the SplottSplott
Splott is a district in the south of the city of Cardiff, capital of Wales, just east of the city centre. It was built up in the late 19th century on the land of two farms of the same name: Upper Splott and Lower Splott Farms. Splott is characterised by its once vast steelworks and rows of tightly...
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
Bradford Bulls
Bradford Bulls is a professional rugby league club based in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. They play in the European Super League and are currently joint 10th in the league....
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
Try
A try is the major way of scoring points in rugby league and rugby union football. A try is scored by grounding the ball in the opposition's in-goal area...
. 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
Great Britain national rugby league team
The Great Britain national rugby league team represents the United Kingdom in rugby league football. Administered by the Rugby Football League , the team is nicknamed "The Lions" or "Great Britain Lions"....
in 1967. The following year he played three World Cup matches, grabbing a hat-trick against New Zealand. In 1969, he toured Australasia
Australasia
Australasia is a region of Oceania comprising Australia, New Zealand, the island of New Guinea, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term was coined by Charles de Brosses in Histoire des navigations aux terres australes...
, but only participated in one game due to injury. He however won a further three test caps
Cap (sport)
In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...
against New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
in 1971. In 1972 he was handed the captaincy of Great Britain
Great Britain national rugby league team
The Great Britain national rugby league team represents the United Kingdom in rugby league football. Administered by the Rugby Football League , the team is nicknamed "The Lions" or "Great Britain Lions"....
and played two tests against France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan 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
Great Britain national rugby league team
The Great Britain national rugby league team represents the United Kingdom in rugby league football. Administered by the Rugby Football League , the team is nicknamed "The Lions" or "Great Britain Lions"....
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, the city of Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
held him in such high regard that a section of the city's main approach road (the A63
A63 road
The A63 is a major road in Yorkshire, England between Leeds and Hull.-Leeds – Howden:The route out to Selby is shadowed by the Leeds-Selby railway....
) between the Humber Bridge
Humber Bridge
The Humber Bridge, near Kingston upon Hull, England, is a 2,220 m single-span suspension bridge, which opened to traffic on 24 June 1981. It is the fifth-largest of its type in the world...
and the city centre was renamed Clive Sullivan Way in his honour.
Sullivan represented Great Britain
Great Britain national rugby league team
The Great Britain national rugby league team represents the United Kingdom in rugby league football. Administered by the Rugby Football League , the team is nicknamed "The Lions" or "Great Britain Lions"....
17 times and appeared at three World Cups, 1968 and 1972 with Great Britain
Great Britain national rugby league team
The Great Britain national rugby league team represents the United Kingdom in rugby league football. Administered by the Rugby Football League , the team is nicknamed "The Lions" or "Great Britain Lions"....
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.Genealogical information
His son, Anthony SullivanAnthony Sullivan
Anthony C. Sullivan is an English-born former rugby league and rugby union player who represented Wales at international level...
, went on to have a distinguished career with Wales (RL), Hull Kingston Rovers, St Helens, Wales
Wales national rugby union team
The Wales national rugby union team represent Wales in international rugby union tournaments. They compete annually in the Six Nations Championship with England, France, Ireland, Italy and Scotland. Wales have won the Six Nations and its predecessors 24 times outright, second only to England with...
(RU), and Cardiff RFC
Cardiff RFC
Cardiff Rugby Football Club is a rugby union football club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, but soon relocated to Cardiff Arms Park where they have been based ever since...
.
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