Andrew Clark, OH 1978-86 passed away at his home in London at Easter 2024 aged 54.

Despite living with Parkinson’s for over ten years, his sudden death came as a great shock to the whole family.

Parents Eileen and Edward (OH 1950-58, President 1980), brother Jonathan (OH 1980-90, President 2018), nephew George (OH 2011-21) and niece Maddie (OH 2013-23) were overwhelmed by the support of all those who knew Andrew and it was lovely to see so many Old Hymerians at the memorial service at St Andrew’s Church, Kirk Ella in May 2024.  Andrew’s grandfather Kenneth (OH 1923-26) also attended Hymers and was OH President in 1950.

Andrew started at Hymers College Junior School in 1978 under Norman Ransom and moved up to long trousers during the Ashurst era. A keen cricketer and rugby player, Andrew was always more of an adventurer who loved the great outdoors. He went on to Agricultural College in Cumbria and to work with the National Trust in the Lake District, Dorset and Suffolk before settling in Surrey in the mid 1990s.

From being six months old he spent his Saturday afternoons watching dad play cricket for Old Hymerians. Home games at Haworth Court, off Beverley High Road, but more special were the away games at Driffield, Hornsea, Scarborough and possibly one of the most picturesque grounds in the county, Londesborough Park.

That love of cricket remained after school, following Yorkshire and, more recently, Surrey at The Oval. In 2001 he went on his first winter cricket tour to watch England in India.

To help fund the trip, Andrew dreamt up the idea of writing and editing the Corridor of Uncertainty – The Official Unofficial England Cricket Fanzine.

He became a fixture at the West Gate in Ranchi or Gate 7 at the MCG on Boxing Day. Andrew toured all of the major test playing nations and pretty much every test ground in the world – Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and West Indies – some of these several times.

How fitting that his last test match was at the incredible Dharamshala, with the Himalayas looming over the ground. It was the final game of a long and exhausting five test series in India for Andrew, but the journeys he took to get to every game and the photos he took will live long in the memory.

Jonathan, George and Maddie travelled to Mumbai in February 2025 to scatter his ashes at the Oval Maidan as per Andrew’s wishes. Dozens of Andrew’s cricket friends came from all over the world to pay their respects during the India – England T20 series.

Andrew’s other main interest was football and he had been a season ticket holder at Hull City for 20 years and a proud member of the Southern Supporters Club and was editor of their magazine ‘Tiger’s Eye’ from 2010 to 2020.

He was always there, whatever division they were in, from nearly dropping out of the football league in the 1990s, Andrew saw them through thick and thin to the dizzy heights of the Premier League, an FA Cup final and even European football.

To summarise Andrew’s sporting travels at home and abroad, Simon Edmond (OH 1979-89) said on Twitter:

‘Whether I was in Ketting or Ipswich, Melbourne or Adelaide, I always knew I’d bump into him and catch up. ‘

Andrew was always giving back and despite all of his passions and achievements, the setting up of a working age Parkinson’s Support Group which met every month at the Roundhouse Bar & Café in Camden was Andrew’s lasting legacy. Sufferers travelled up from London to the memorial service to share their memories and pay tribute to Andrew for giving them hope as they continue to battle the cruel disease. They have pledged to carry on the group in Andrew’s memory.

Jonathan Clark, OH 1980-90