Daniel Robert "Danny" Clapton (July 22, 1934 – June 16, 1986) was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 football

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

er.

Born in Stepney

Stepney

Stepney is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in London's East End that grew out of a medieval village around St Dunstan's church and the 15th century ribbon development of Mile End Road...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, Clapton first started out as an amateur with Leytonstone

Leytonstone F.C.

Leytonstone F.C. was an English football club based in Leytonstone, Greater London. Founded in 1886, the club ceased to exist in 1979 when it merged with Ilford to form Leytonstone-Ilford, which later became Redbridge Forest after also absorbing Walthamstow Avenue...

 before joining Arsenal

Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

 in August 1953. He made his debut in a 1-0 win over Chelsea

Chelsea F.C.

Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...

 on December 25, 1954, and by the end of the 1954-55

1954-55 in English football

The 1954–1955 season was the 75th season of competitive football in England, from August 1954 to May 1955:-Overview:* Chelsea win the League Championship for the first time.* Newcastle United win the FA Cup....

 he was Arsenal's first choice right-winger

Winger (sport)

In certain sports, such as football, field hockey, ice hockey, handball, rugby union, lacrosse and rugby league, the term winger is the name of a position. It refers to positions on the extreme left and right sides of the pitch . In American football and Canadian football, the analogous position...

, taking Arthur Milton

Arthur Milton

Clement Arthur Milton was an English cricketer and footballer. He played County cricket for Gloucestershire from 1948 to 1974, playing six Test matches for England in 1958 and 1959. He also played domestic football for Arsenal between 1951 and 1955, and then for a brief period for Bristol City...

's place. He became a near ever-present for Arsenal for the next four seasons (aside from 1957-58

1957-58 in English football

The 1957–58 season was the 78th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:In this season, Sunderland was relegated for the first time in their history.This was the last season in which Division 3 was split, North and South...

, where he was out injured for a third of the season), helping Arsenal to third place in 1958-59

1958-59 in English football

The 1958–59 season was the 79th season of competitive football in England.-Diary of the season:August 1958: The Football League season begins with the new national Third and Fourth divisions that have been created from the old Third Division North and Third Division South.September 1958: Manchester...

, their highest league position in six years.

Clapton was also called up for England

England national football team

The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

, playing a solitary international match against Wales

Wales national football team

The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...

 on November 26, 1958 at Villa Park

Villa Park, England

Villa Park is an association football stadium in the district of Witton, Birmingham, England with a seating capacity of 42,786. It has been the home of Aston Villa Football Club since 1897. The team previously played at Aston Park from 1874 to 1876 and Perry Barr from 1876 to 1897...

, which finished 2-2. Arsenal played a friendly match later that day against Juventus

Juventus F.C.

Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...

 at Highbury

Arsenal Stadium

Arsenal Stadium was a football stadium in Highbury, North London, which was the home ground of Arsenal Football Club between 6 September 1913 and 7 May 2006...

, and Clapton played in that match as well, alongside team-mate Jack Kelsey

Jack Kelsey

Alfred John "Jack" Kelsey was a Welsh international football goalkeeper, who also played for Arsenal. He is regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers to play for Wales.- Early career :...

, who earlier in the day had been in goal for Wales.

After Arsenal signed Jackie Henderson

Jackie Henderson

John Gillespie "Jackie" Henderson was a Scottish international footballer who played in the Football League for Portsmouth, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Arsenal and Fulham.-Club career:...

 and Alan Skirton

Alan Skirton

Alan Frederick Graham Skirton is an English former footballer.-Playing career:Skirton started out as a player with West Twerton Youth Club in his home city of Bath before joining Bristol City as an amateur. However, they did not retain him and he then joined hometown club Bath City in the Southern...

, Clapton had to be content with sharing the right wing position in 1959-60

1959-60 in English football

The 1959–60 season was the 80th season of competitive football in England.-Diary of the season:17 November 1959: Phil Taylor resigns as manager of Liverpool after three years as manager, with all three of his seasons in charge ending with a narrow failure to win promotion to the First...

 and 1960-61

1960-61 in English football

The 1960–61 season was the 81st season of competitive football in England.-Overview:This season was a historic one for domestic football in England, as Tottenham Hotspur F.C. became the first club in the twentieth century to "do the Double" by winning both the League and the FA Cup competitions...

. Arsenal then signed Johnny MacLeod

Johnny MacLeod

John Murdoch "Johnny" MacLeod is a Scottish association football player.-Biography:Born in Edinburgh, MacLeod started his career at his local club, Hibernian, and played 85 times for the Edinburgh side between 1957 and 1961, where he made a name for himself as a talented right-winger...

 in the summer of 1961, and Clapton lost his place in the side altogether (only playing five matches in 1961-62

1961-62 in English football

The 1961–62 season was the 82nd season of competitive Football in England.-Overview:The season was notable for the remarkable achievement of Ipswich Town winning the League Championship. Under the managership of Alf Ramsey, the club progressed from the old Third Division South to the First Division...

) and was sold to Luton Town

Luton Town F.C.

Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...

 in September 1962. In all he played 225 matches for Arsenal, scoring 27 goals.

Clapton's spell at Luton was uneventful; he later moved to Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 to play for Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

 side Corinthians. He returned to England in 1970 and later ran a pub in Hackney

London Borough of Hackney

The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....

. His younger brother Dennis was also a footballer, but never achieved the same success, making only five league appearances for Arsenal and Northampton Town

Northampton Town F.C.

Northampton Town Football Club are an English professional football club based in Northampton, Northamptonshire. They currently play in Football League Two, the lowest league division, after being relegated from League One on the last day of the 2008–09 season...

. He died aged 51, in 1986.