Clive Clarke

For the English footballer born in 1940, see Clive Clark (footballer).

Clive Clarke

Personal information
Full name	Clive Richard Luke Clarke
Date of birth	(1980-01-14) 14 January 1980
Place of birth	Dublin, Ireland
Height
Position(s)	Left back
Youth career
1996–1998	Stoke City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1999–2005	Stoke City	223	(9)
2005–2006	West Ham United	2	(0)
2006–2008	Sunderland	4	(0)
2006	→ Coventry City (loan)	12	(0)
2007	→ Leicester City (loan)	2	(0)
Total		242	(9)
International career
2004	Ireland	2	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Clive Richard Luke Clarke (born 14 January 1980) is a former Irish footballer. He played primarily as a left back, but also as centre back, left midfielder or centre midfielder. He is now a football agent, after leaving Sunderland for health reasons.

Career

Stoke City

Clarke started playing football with local club Newtown Schoolboys in his home town of Newtownmountkennedy (County Wicklow). He joined Stoke City as a trainee in August 1996, making his debut against Oldham Athletic in May 1999. He quickly became a regular in the team, making 55 appearances in the 1999–2000 season and 33 appearances in the 2000–01 season. In both seasons Stoke reached the play-offs where they lost to Gillingham and Walsall respectively. Although he was dropped from the side in February 2001, which prompted him to hand in a transfer request.

However he returned to the side in 2001–02 and helped Stoke gain promotion by beating Brentford in the 2002 Football League Second Division play-off Final. He played 32 times in 2002–03 as Stoke narrowly avoided relegation. He made 44 appearances in both the 2003–04 and 2004–05 campaigns. He left for West Ham United in the summer of 2005 after making 264 appearances for Stoke City in nine years.

West Ham United

Clarke signed for West Ham for a fee of £275,000 at the end of July 2005, brought to the club by the then manager, Alan Pardew, who wanted another left-sided player. He made only three appearances for West Ham and, in August 2006, moved to Sunderland in a deal that saw George McCartney move to Upton Park.

Sunderland

Clarke joined Sunderland as a replacement for the injured George McCartney. However, he made only four appearances before joining Coventry City on loan in October 2006 until January 2007 after which he returned to Sunderland. He made twelve appearances for Coventry but made no further appearances for Sunderland after returning from loan.

Clarke later signed a three-month loan deal with Leicester City on 16 August 2007. During the League Cup tie between Nottingham Forest and Leicester on 28 August 2007, Clarke collapsed and suffered a cardiac arrest in the changing rooms at the City Ground causing the match to be abandoned at half-time, with the score at 1–0. It was reported by the BBC that Clarke was being treated in the emergency room at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham. He was said to be 'stable' and would be kept in overnight.

In an act of sportsmanship, Leicester allowed Forest to score the opening goal on the re-match to regain the advantage they had when the first game was abandoned. Leicester players stood aside to allow Forest goalkeeper Paul Smith to take in the ball from the kick-off. Reportedly even the bookmakers decided to pay out on the scorer of the first contested goal as well as paying out on both the 3–2 official result and the 3–1 "real" scoreline.

Clarke told the BBC on 2 September that he felt lucky to be alive.

I remember feeling a bit lethargic on the field in the first half, and I was involved in a collision with our goalkeeper Paul Henderson, which led to their goal.

I sat quietly in a corner of the dressing room and felt a bit queasy. I can recall Patrick Kisnorbo talking to me, but it wasn't really registering. Then I just passed out.

When I was told what had happened, the blood drained from my body. I just thought I could have been dead, and that I might never have seen my family again.

When you think about Sevilla player Antonio Puerta (who collapsed last Saturday and died on Tuesday), it goes without saying that a day won't pass when I don't cherish every moment in my life.

Clarke told Sky Sports on 12 September that he was still hopeful of playing again, but he never made another appearance for Leicester following the incident, and he returned to Sunderland in November. He left Sunderland by mutual agreement in February 2008 after medical advice.

After football

After retiring from football due to health problems, Clarke became a football agent.

International career

Clarke was a Republic of Ireland Under 21 player and has two caps for the Republic of Ireland senior team, against Nigeria in May 2004 and against Jamaica in June 2004.

Career statistics

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Stoke City	1998–99	Second Division	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
	1999–2000	Second Division	42	1	1	0	4	0	8	0	55	1
	2000–01	Second Division	23	0	2	0	6	0	5	1	36	1
	2001–02	Second Division	43	1	3	0	1	0	4	0	51	1
	2002–03	First Division	31	3	0	0	1	0	0	0	32	3
	2003–04	First Division	40	3	2	0	2	0	0	0	44	3
	2004–05	Championship	42	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	44	1
	Total		223	9	9	0	15	0	17	1	264	10
West Ham United	2005–06	Premier League	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	0
	Total		2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	3	0
Sunderland	2006–07	Championship	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
	Total		4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
Coventry City (loan)	2006–07	Championship	12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	12	0
	Total		12	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	12	0
Leicester City (loan)	2007–08	Championship	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
	Total		2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Career Total			243	9	9	0	16	0	17	1	285	10

A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Football League play-offs, and Football League Trophy.

External links

• Clive Clarke career statistics at Soccerbase

• "West Ham snap up Stoke's Clarke", BBC Sport, 1 August 2005. Retrieved 1 July 2007.
• "West Ham sign defender McCartney", BBC Sport, 8 August 2006. Retrieved 1 July 2007.
• "Clarke surprised by Coventry move", BBC Sport, 26 October 2006. Retrieved 1 July 2007.
• "Duffy & Clarke extend loan deals", BBC Sport, 21 November 2006. Retrieved 1 July 2007.
• I'm lucky to be here, says Clarke, BBC Sport 2 September 2007; retrieved 21 September 2007.
• Clarke aims to play again, Sky Sports 12 September 2007. Retrieved on 2007-12-09.
• Squad Profile: Clive Clarke profile, FAI.ie; retrieved 1 July 2007.