Crossword Genius

Cliff a winner as old English king (7,3,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

richard the first

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'cliff a winner' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't judge whether this works.

'old english king' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'english' could be 'e' (abbreviation) and 'e' is found in the answer.
'king' could be 'richard' (Richard I or Richard II) and 'richard' is present in the answer.
This may be the basis of clue (or it may be nonsense).

'as' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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