{{Short description|British discus thrower (1927–2021)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Use British English|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox sportsperson | name = Eric Cleaver | image = | image_size = <!--Only for images narrower than 220 pixels.--> | caption = | nationality = British (English) | birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1927|06|15}} | birth_place = Southampton, England | death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2021|03|15|1927|06|15}} | death_place = Salisbury, Wiltshire, England | sport = Athletics | event = discus throw | height = | weight = | club = Army AC<br>London AC }}
'''Eric Alfred Ratfyn Cleaver''' (15 June 1927 – 15 March 2021) was an English discus thrower.
== Biography == Cleaver finished third behind Mark Pharaoh in the discus throw event at the 1956 AAA Championships.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0005475/19560716/008/0008 |title=Fine performance by Farrell in AAA hurdles |work=Liverpool Daily Post |date=15 July 1956 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=27 April 2025}}</ref>
Cleaver was selected for the England athletics team<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000332/19580623/006/0006 |title=England's Team |work=Lincolnshire Echo |p=6 |date=23 June 1958 |via=British Newspaper Archive|url-access=subscription |access-date=27 September 2025}}</ref> in the discus at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, Wales.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thecgf.com/results/athletes/38475|title=Athletes and results|publisher=Commonwealth Games Federation|access-date=26 July 2019|archive-date=26 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190726082121/https://thecgf.com/results/athletes/38475|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://teamengland.org/commonwealth-games-history/cardiff-1958/athletes|title=1958 Athletes|publisher=Team England}}</ref>
Cleaver finished second and third respectively behind Mike Lindsay at the 1959 AAA Championships<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/aaa.htm |title=AAA Championships (men) |website=GBR Athletics |access-date=27 April 2025}}</ref> and 1960 AAA Championships.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nuts.org.uk/Champs/AAA/index.htm |title=AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists |website=National Union of Track Statisticians |access-date=27 April 2025}}</ref>
Cleaver also competed in the 1962 European Athletics Championships and served in the Royal Army Physical Training Corps.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.simbalion.co.uk/athletics/eric-cleaver/|title=Lt: Colonel (Retd) E.A.R. Cleaver - 2004|publisher=Simbalion|access-date=26 July 2019|archive-date=26 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190726082119/https://www.simbalion.co.uk/athletics/eric-cleaver/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Cleaver died on 15 March 2021, at the age of 93.<ref>{{cite web |title=Mr Eric Alfred Ratfyn Cleaver |url=https://www.ancestry.co.uk/discoveryui-content/view/9471144:60630?tid=&pid=&queryId=51afa5cd83972520a2dae8e8bb1970e1&_phsrc=Dqh6373&_phstart=successSource |publisher=England and Wales, Death Index, 1989–2022 |access-date=14 October 2023}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cleaver, Eric}} Category:1927 births Category:2021 deaths Category:20th-century British Army personnel Category:English men discus throwers Category:British men discus throwers Category:Athletes (track and field) at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Category:Commonwealth Games athletes for England Category:Royal Army Physical Training Corps soldiers