BY the time the late, great Clive Sullivan MBE joined Oldham in 1980 he was well past his peak, yet Watersheddings fans were still privileged to watch the Welsh wing wizard in Oldham’s red and white.
All but one of his 18 games were on the left-wing where he had no fewer than FIVE centres in player-coach Bill Francis, Brian Caffery, Clive Hunter, Mick Parrish and Ashley McEwen.
He died from cancer at the age of 42, but he would have been 78 today and along with his other clubs, Hull, Hull KR and Doncaster, we are honoured to offer birthday memories of the first black man to captain a British national sports team.
He led Great Britain to World Cup glory in 1972 — the last time we won it — and he will be forever revered on Humberside, where he scored 250 tries in 352 games for Hull and 118 tries in 213 games for Rovers. If ever one man went close to uniting a city divided by rugby league it was Cardiff-born Clive Sullivan, who had the main trunk road into the city named after him.
He was a great player and a lovely guy — a true legend of our sport and one who wore Oldham colours with pride. We salute you posthumously, Clive, and thanks for the memories in this World Cup year.
