Paul Clough

Paul Clough

Personal information
Born	(1987-09-27) 27 September 1987 (age 34) St Helens, Merseyside, England
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight	16 st 3 lb (103 kg) [1]
Playing information
Position	Prop, Second-row
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2004–14 St. Helens 166 20 0 0 80 2014(loan) → Widnes Vikings 15 1 0 0 4 2015–16 Bradford Bulls 45 1 0 0 4 2017–20 Huddersfield Giants 76 2 0 0 8 2021– Widnes Vikings 0 0 0 0 8 Total 302 24 0 0 104 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2011–12 England Knights 2 0 0 0 0
Source: [2] [3] As of 15 December 2020

Paul Clough (born 27 September 1987), also known by the nickname of "Cloughy", is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a prop or second-row forward for Widnes Vikings in the RFL Championship and the England Knights at international level.

He has previously played in the Super League for St Helens, and on loan from St Helens at the Widnes Vikings. Clough played for the Bradford Bulls in the Kingstone Press Championship.

Background

He was born in St Helens, Merseyside, England. He is the younger brother of the rugby league footballer John Clough.

St Helens

Clough playing for St Helens

In November 2006 Paul Clough was promoted to train full-time with the St Helens' first team squad. He had also been training with the squad in 2005's Super League X, but his performances have seen him included in St Helens elite 25-man squad for the upcoming season.

He is expected to compete for a regular first team spot over the next few years and was given the number 22 jersey for the 2007's Super League XII.

Clough is a powerful second rower, a driving force in the tackle, and a player who is already physically imposing, especially considering his age.

Paul Clough will offer Mick Potter a young local British feeling to the St. Helens pack.^{[ citation needed ]} This is another example of St. Helens' continuing investment in local talent.

19-year-old Paul Clough was promoted from the academy set-up to the first-team squad for 2006's Super League XI and was officially announced as a squad member for 2007's Super League XII.

Paul Clough is perhaps a victim of St Helens success with their Treble winning season in 2006. Clough is also the victim of having to try to break into a team that already has four internationals in the back row with Chris Flannery, Jon Wilkin, Lee Gilmour and new signing Tony Puletua although he and Puletua may feature more predominately in the front row this season.

Paul's performances for the St. Helens Academy have shown great potential and he has represented and captained England throughout his junior career.

The backrower made his Super League début in July 2005 against Hull F.C.

He played in the 2008 Super League Grand Final defeat by the Leeds Rhinos. ^[4]

He was awarded the number 17 jersey for 2009's Super League XIV.

He played in the 2009 Super League Grand Final defeat by the Leeds Rhinos at Old Trafford. ^{[5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]}

He played in the 2011 Super League Grand Final defeat by the Leeds Rhinos at Old Trafford. ^{[17] [18]}

Bradford Bulls

2015 - 2015 Season

Clough signed for the Bradford Bulls on a 2-year deal. He featured in the pre-season friendlies against the Castleford Tigers and the Leeds Rhinos.

He featured in Round 1 (Leigh Centurions) to Round 20 (Hunslet Hawks) then in Round 22 (Leigh Centurions) to Round 23 (Halifax). Clough played in Qualifier 1 (Sheffield Eagles) to Qualifier 7 (Halifax). Paul played in the £1 Million Game (Wakefield Trinity Wildcats). He also featured in the Challenge Cup in Round 4 (Workington Town) to Round 5 (Hull Kingston Rovers). He scored against Doncaster (1 try).

2016 - 2016 Season

Clough did not feature in any of the pre-season friendlies.

He featured in Round 6 (Batley Bulldogs) to Round 14 (Sheffield Eagles) then in Round 17 (Workington Town) to Round 19 (Halifax). Clough played in the Challenge Cup in the 4th Round (Dewsbury Rams).

Huddersfield Giants

In November 2016 Clough signed for the Huddersfield Giants on a two-year deal beginning at the start of the 2017 Super League season. ^[19] He had only played 45 times, scoring 4 points (1 try) for the Bradford Bulls.

Widnes Vikings

On 24 August 2020 it was announced that Clough would join Widnes Vikings for the 2021 season on a 1-year deal ^[20]

Statistics

Statistics do not include pre-season friendlies.

Season	Appearance	Tries	Goals	F/G	Points
2015 Bradford Bulls	32	1	0	0	4
2016 Bradford Bulls	13	0	0	0	0
Total	45	1	0	0	4

References

1. "Meet the Teams First Team Players". web page. Saints RFC. 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
2. loverugbyleague
3. Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org
4. "2008 Grand Final". BBC. 4 October 2008. Retrieved 5 October 2008.
5. "Rhinos Take Super League Title". Sky News. 11 October 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
6. Burke, David (11 October 2009). "Smith's Crisp". The Daily Mirror. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
7. AFP (11 October 2009). "Leeds makes it Super League hat-trick". ABC News. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
8. AAP (11 October 2009). "Leeds claim third successive Grand Final". nrl.com. Archived from the original on 3 October 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
9. Linfoot, Ben (10 October 2009). "Grand Final: Leeds Rhinos 18 St Helens 10". Sky Sports. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
10. Correspondent (12 October 2009). "Potter refuses to blame video ref". Liverpool Echo . Retrieved 22 November 2019.
11. Fletcher, Paul (10 October 2009). "St Helens 10-18 Leeds Rhinos". BBC Sport. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
12. "Third time unlucky as Saints fail to halt Rhinos' charge to title". Liverpool Daily Post. 12 October 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
13. "Sinfield hails winning culture". The Daily Mirror. 11 October 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
14. Stewart, Rob (12 October 2009). "Lee Smith targets place in England rugby union team after Grand Final victory". The Telegraph. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
15. "Sinfield hails historic title win". BBC Sport. 11 October 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
16. "Leeds Rhinos fans in homecoming welcome". Yorkshire Evening Post . 12 October 2009. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
17. "Leeds claim Grand Final glory as inspired Rob Burrow sinks St Helens". Guardian. 8 October 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
18. "St Helens 16 Leeds 32". Daily Telegraph. 8 October 2011. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
19. "Clough exit from Bradford Bulls to Huddersfield Giants confirmed". Telegraph & Argus . 11 November 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
20. "Widnes Vikings sign experienced packman Paul Clough". Runcorn and Widnes World. Retrieved 15 December 2020.

External links

• Huddersfield Giants profile
• St Helens profile ^{[ permanent dead link ]}
• SL profile
• Saints Heritage Society profile