Born in Edinburgh on May 24th, 1931, Willie Clark’s involvement in ice hockey began in the early 1950s, when he took up skating while working as a steward at the newly opened Murrayfield rink.
The Murrayfield stewards formed their own hockey team and Clark, after starting to play on defence, went between the pipes and stayed there one night after the regular netminder failed to appear. He soon became the back-up goalie for the Murrayfield Royals and after a brief spell with the Glasgow Flyers, established himself as the Royals first choice ‘keeper.
In 1961, he back-stopped the club to victory in the major tournaments played in Brighton, Durham, Southampton and Whitley Bay, and he went on to appear for regularly for Scotland against England as well as representing Great Britain in four world championships.
The formation of the Northern League in 1966 heralded great days for the Murrayfield club. Now known as the Racers, and with Willie Clark in goal, the team swept the three major NL competitions and went on to complete "Grand Slams” in 69/70, 70/71 and 71/72 – an unprecedented run of success.
Willie Clark’s final playing season was 1975/76, by which time he had become manager of the Scotland team, a role he filled from 1973 to 1992. During the 1980s he became a member of the Scottish Ice Hockey Association responsible for senior development, which in turn led to him representing Scotland at BIHA Council meetings culminating in his personal membership of the Council in 1990.
A glazier by trade, Willie Clark became Projects Manager at the Murrayfield rink and maintained his connections with the sport that first caught his imagination over forty years earlier.
Compiled with research, provided by Martin C.Harris - April 1993.
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