John Charles Clegg

Charles Clegg was the son of Mary and William Johnson Clegg, who went on to have a total of six children. His father was a trainee solicitor at the time of Charles' birth. Two years later he became a highway rate collector but re-entered the profession after the Great Sheffield Flood in 1864. He prepared claims against the water company responsible. This led to him to become a fully qualified solicitor and found his own firm, which became known as Clegg & Sons. He also went on to be mayor of Sheffield three times. Charles joined his father's law firm after leaving school and eventually became a solicitor in 1872. In the same year, he married Mary Sykes, with whom he had three children. Both Charles and his brother were noted athletes with a flair for football. Charles was also an outstanding runner winning prizes at the 100 yards sprint and the quarter-mile. Locally he played for Sheffield F.C., Perseverance and Broomhill but his favoured club became Sheffield Wednesday. He and his brother represented the Sheffield Association in the first inter-association match against the FA at Bramall Lane on 2 December 1871. The game was won 3–1 by Sheffield, and Clegg became a regular feature in inter-association matches. The highlight of his career came when he represented England in the first international played on 30 November 1872. However, he did not enjoy the experience later stating that his teammates were 'snobs from the south who had no use for a lawyer from Sheffield'. This…