Sam Clemson | |||||||
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OVERALL STATISTICS | |||||||
| BIRTH | AGE | SIGNED ON | FROM | ||||
| DEBUT | LAST MATCH | LEFT | |||||
| CAREER | APPEARANCES (SUBS) | ||||||
| TRIES | GOALS | DGOALS | PTS | ||||
Biography of Sam Clemson | ||||
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 HERITAGE NO : 741 Sam Clemson by Alex Service The St.Helens Newspaper gave news of a new signing by the Saints which was meant to pep up the pace of the threequarter line. Sam Clemson was truly a flyer, famous for his sprinting exploits for the Pilkington Recreation Athletics club, who had also represented Lancashire and North West Counties. Sam had been playing occasionally for The Recs Rugby Union team and had been put under close surveillance by Saints scouts prior to his capture. Clemson had a peak time of 9.9 seconds for the 100 yards and a best of 21.9 for the furlong. He had been close to selection for the Melbourne Olympic squad, but was ruled out by injury. Sam was 22 when he signed and ideally built for a sprinter at 12 stones 4 lbs and 5 feet 10 ins. His progress had also been monitored by Saints Secretary Basil Lowe, who was formerly Secretary to the Pilkington Athletics organisation. There are very few instances of even-timers playing rugby. McDonald Bailey, who played for Leigh was the fastest of them all, but his entry into the game was largely a publicity stunt. Famous speed merchants like Ellaby and Brian Bevan were not even-timers, although perhaps one of the quickest was Stan McCormick, who excelled in the Powderhall event. The signing of Clemson was seen as vital given the impending loss of Frank Carlton, who was beginning his National Service. He was a draughtsman at Pilkingtons Cowley Hill works and was a former pupil of Prescott Grammar School. Sam made his debut against Whitehaven A at Knowsley Road, when his centre was Arthur Pimblett. Although he became an A team regular, First Team opportunities were few and far between for Sam. It is presumed that he retired after his spell at Saints and we believe that at some stage he went to Apapa in Nigeria. He worked for a packaging company and was certainly still there in August 1966. The son of a business colleague, Wim Hulme, contacted us to provide some interesting information about his business life after the Saints. Wim says that he knew him either from GEC and both working there or because his father worked for GEC in Nigeria and knew him through that his father then worked with or for him from 1980 to 1987. They ran factories in Warrington (Quintad and Quay Packaging) which supplied Nigeria. In 2021, Sam was living in St Helens and received his Heritage Number Certificate. The following obituary of Sam was written by Alex Service Farewell Sam Clemson One of Saints’ elder statesmen in playing terms, Sam Clemson, [Heritage Number #741] has passed away aged 90. In the Spring of 1957, the St Helens Newspaper gave news of a new signing by the Saints which was meant to pep up the pace of the threequarter line. Sam Clemson was famous for his sprinting exploits for the Pilkington Recreation Athletics club, who had also represented Lancashire and North West Counties. Clemson was ideally built for a sprinter at 12 stones 4 lbs and a peak time of 9.9 seconds for the 100 yards showed that he had pace to burn. He had been close to selection for the Melbourne Olympic squad in 1956 but was ruled out by injury. ,br> Sam had been playing occasionally for The Recs Rugby Union team in the winter months and had been put under close surveillance by Saints scouts prior to his capture. His progress had also been monitored by Saints Secretary Basil Lowe, who was formerly Secretary to the Pilkington Athletics organisation. The signing of Clemson was seen as vital given the impending loss of Frank Carlton, who was beginning his National Service. He was a draughtsman at Pilkingtons Cowley Hill works and was a former pupil of Prescot Grammar School. Sam made his debut against Whitehaven A at Knowsley Road, when his centre was Arthur Pimblett. Although he became an A team regular, First Team opportunities were few and far between for Sam. He made his debut on the left wing in tough circumstances at Derwent Park, Workington on 20th April 1957, when Saints lost 3-26. Two days later came his last senior outing, on the right wing, when Saints won 48-10. Yet for many, his most memorable appearance came on 2nd November 1957, when a crowd of 8,500 watched the A team at Knowsley Road. Tom van Vollenhoven had made his senior debut the week before and Jim Sullivan decided that it would be best for him to play for the reserves against Whitehaven rather than face a potentially daunting second game in Cumbria. The threequarter line that day is reputed to be one of the fastest ever assembled in the code: van Vollenhoven, Ken Large, Sam Clemson and David Johnson. A time-served draughtsman at Pilkington’s Cowley Hill works, Sam married Jean Pickersgill [who sadly pre-deceased him in 2012] and they had a son, Graham. He moved to Apapa, Nigeria, where he worked for the Nigerian Electricity Board, followed by a spell in Nairobi working for GEC. Returning to the UK, Sam set up a company manufacturing generators in Burtonwood with export links to Nigeria and others. A popular guy, Sam was formerly a member of Ashton Golf Club and socialised at Windle Bowling Club for many years. | ||||
PLAYER HONOURS | ||||
SEASON STATISTICS | ||||
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| Season (Official Matches) | Tries | Goals | DGoals | Matches |
| 1956~57 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| TOTALS: | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Season (Other Matches) | Tries | Goals | DGoals | Matches |
| TOTALS: | ||||
ALL MATCHES | ||||
| Date | Match | Pos | Opponents | Comp | Venue | FT | FTO | T | G | DG | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20th Apr 1957 | 1 | L |
5 | Workington Town | L | A | 3 | 26 | VIEW | |||
| 22nd Apr 1957 | 2 | W |
2 | Blackpool Borough | L | H | 48 | 10 | VIEW |
| *Unofficial Match. **Non Playing Sub. |
| WINS : 1 | LOSSES : 1 | DRAWS : |
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GALLERY |
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