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Norman Clark
Norman Clark
	Clark in 1907
Personal information
Full name	Norman Childers Clark
Nickname(s)	Hackenschmidt
Date of birth	12 November 1878
Place of birth	North Adelaide, South Australia
Date of death	26 December 1943 (aged 65)
Place of death	Fitzroy, Victoria
Original team(s)	Stawell
Height	170 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Weight	86 kg (190 lb)
Position(s)	Half back flank
Playing career1
Years	Club
1897–1903	North Adelaide
1905–1912	Carlton
Coaching career3
Years	Club
1912	Carlton
1913	Brighton
1914–1918	Carlton
1919	Richmond
1920–1922	Carlton
1924	North Melbourne
1925–1926	St Kilda
1929	Prahran
1931	North Melbourne
	1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1912. 3 Coaching statistics correct as of 1931.
Career highlights
	Player 2× North Adelaide premiership player (1900, 1902); 3× Carlton premiership player (1906, 1907, 1908); Coach Carlton premiership coach 1914, 1915;
	Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Norman Childers "Hackenschmidt" Clark (12 November 1878 – 26 December 1943) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Carlton Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL) between 1905 and 1912.

Family

The son of Edward John Clark, and Margaret Clark, née Cooper, Norman Childers Clark was born on 12 November 1878.^[1] He married Eileen Florence Fleming (1888–1983) on 11 June 1918. They had two children: Norman Adrian Clark (1919–1998),^[2] and Bryan Childers Clark (1923–2003).^[3]

Early career

Prior to joining Carlton, he had played in two premiership teams at North Adelaide.

A talented sprinter, in 1899 he won the 130-yard (120 m) Stawell Gift in 11⁴⁄₅ seconds off a handicap of 14 and a half yards.^[4] His prize of 50 gold sovereigns was used to buy a handmade gold pocket watch, in which he had his initials 'N.C.C.' inscribed. He moved to Stawell, hoping to win another Gift, and he played two seasons with Stawell Football Club.

VFL career

Upon his arrival at Carlton in 1905, his teammates noticed his exceptional physique and nicknamed him "Hackenschmidt" after the famous strongman and professional wrestler Georg Hackenschmidt.^[5]

He played in three consecutive premiership sides for Carlton (1906, 1907, and 1908) and continued until 1912. He then captain-coached Brighton in the VFA in 1913 before retiring.

Coaching

He was playing coach of Carlton in 1912 before moving to Brighton in 1913. In 1914 he was back at Carlton and coaching Carlton to back-to-back premierships in 1914–15; he was with Charlie Hammond, the only two people involved in Carlton's first five VFL flags.

After leaving Carlton at the end of the 1918 season, he took up the head coaching role at Richmond. In his only season, he took the Tigers to the Grand Final. He attained the rare feat of coaching two separate clubs in VFL Grand Finals.

Clark returned to Carlton in 1920 and coached for two and a half years before resigning in mid-1922.

Clark was also the coach of VFL sides St Kilda in 1925–26.

He was captain-coach of Victorian Football Association (VFA) side Brighton in 1913.^[6] He coached junior and senior football for seventeen seasons in the VFA, the VFL and for Blackburn in the Ringwood Districts Football Association, with four more premierships to his credit by the time he retired after the 1931 season.

In 1931 he was appointed coach of North Melbourne; after ten winless games, he resigned.