Alf Clay was an Australian rules football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

er who played with Hawthorn

Hawthorn Football Club

The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League . The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The team play in Brown & Gold vertically striped guernseys...

, Footscray

Western Bulldogs

The Western Bulldogs are an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based at the Whitten Oval in West Footscray, an inner-western suburb of Melbourne...

, Fitzroy

Fitzroy Football Club

The Fitzroy Football Club, formerly nicknamed The Lions, is an Australian rules football club formed in 1883 to represent the inner Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy, Victoria and was a foundation member club of the Victorian Football League on its inception in 1897...

 and North Melbourne

North Melbourne Football Club

The North Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed The Kangaroos, is the fourth oldest Australian rules football club in the Australian Football League and is one of the oldest sporting clubs in Australia and the world...

 in the Victorian Football League

Australian Football League

The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...

 (VFL).

It wasn't until Clay came to Fitzroy that he gained regular senior selection, having been a fringe player at both Hawthorn and Footscray. He kicked four goals on debut for Fitzroy in 1940, against St Kilda at Brunswick Street Oval

Brunswick Street Oval

The Brunswick Street Oval, currently known as WT Peterson Community Oval, also known as the Fitzroy Cricket Ground is a cricket and Australian rules football ground located in Edinburgh Gardens in Fitzroy North, Victoria...

. After making just five appearances that year, Clay played a total of 35 games in his next three seasons. In 1943 he played in a semi final but missed out on Fitzroy's premiership the following year when he crossed to North Melbourne early in the season.

He was of no relation to the Clays twins, Bert

Bert Clay

Bert Clay was an Australian rules footballer who played for Fitzroy in the Victorian Football League during the 1940s...

 and Ivor

Ivor Clay

Ivor Thomas Clay was an Australian rules footballer who played with Fitzroy in the Victorian Football League during the 1940s and also a first-class cricketer for Tasmania....

, who played for Fitzroy during the time he was at the club.