Fred Clarke

Arriving from Heidelberg as a teenager, Fred Clarke was handed the daunting honour of being the first player to wear the famous number 17 guernsey following the retirement of Captain Blood, Jack Dyer. A fast-moving and robust defender capable of playing at half-back or full-back, Clarke’s debut season in 1951 was curtailed by compulsory national service, but he returned to become a regular fixture in the Tigers' backline throughout 1952. His VFL career was unfortunately cut short the following year when he suffered a severe thigh injury against Geelong, a setback compounded by a workplace accident at the gasworks that eventually forced his departure to Maryborough. While he later returned to Heidelberg to become a local premiership hero and Team of the Century member, his family legacy extended at the top level through his son, dual Essendon premiership player Neil "Nobby" Clarke.