From running the Barnsley Blacks to guiding England to top of the world rankings, Dick Clegg has led a phenomenal life in angling. This week we caught up with him to discuss past and present angling worlds, along with his continued love of competition
It’s great to hear you’re still enjoying your fishing, Dick. Are matches still your thing?
Absolutely! I don’t do any other kind of fishing. It was the same when I played golf – unless there’s a couple of quid riding on it between you and a mate I couldn’t really be bothered. I still fish at least one match a week, usually at Hallcroft and Ranskill.
How did you start match fishing, where did the legendary ‘Barnsley Blacks’ name come from, and what was your involvement in building the team?
I started quite late. I did some events as a junior with my father, but at 16 I got distracted and started chasing girls! When I returned, specimen angling was my thing , with the Northern Specimen Hunters. I wrote for the local rag and was a founder member of the National Association of Specimen Groups.
At around 30 I then started a tackle shop, and the family then took on another in Sheffield. That’s when I began match fishing. I’m a bit gutted because I’ve lost a medal I won with Sheffield and District – it was my lucky charm!
The ‘Barnsley Blacks’ name started as a bit of a mickey take. The first team, which included Denis White, Tom Pickering , Alan Sefton and Harry Jackson, was at a Rotherham and District hosted match on the River Trent, and we were asked for a team name. At the time, the Lancashire lads called the Yorkshire boys ‘blacks’ as a reference to our problems turning casters in Yorkshire. Most anglers will know the classic bluebottle caster, but we’d get lots of rogue ‘blackfly’ casters, which were sticky, darker and no good, because they’d float! That said, Alan Scotthorne used them to great effect as a hookbait at the World Champs on Lake Garda, over a very weedy bottom. I captained the Barnsley team from around 1978, when we joined the NFA and entered the Division 2 National. I knew John Middleton, who was an area rep for Daiwa at the time, and arranged to see the CEO, John Loftus. We agreed terms for both the team and individuals with Denis White and Tom Pickering.
I actually turned down individual sponsorship because I wanted more for the team! It was quite a big thing at the time, as major deals for teams were rare.
It’s 40 years since you first got the England job now. It’s easy to forget that the Three Lions hadn’t won a team gold for over 40 years when you wer
