Leon Clarke

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Leon Clarke
Personal information
Date of birth February 10, 1985 (1985-02-10) (age 23)
Place of birth    Wolverhampton, England
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current club Sheffield Wednesday
Number 18
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
2003–2007
2004
2006
2006
2007–
2007
2007		 Wolverhampton Wanderers
→ Kidderminster Harriers (loan)
→ Queens Park Rangers (loan)
→ Plymouth Argyle (loan)
Sheffield Wednesday
→ Oldham Athletic (loan)
→ Southend United (loan)		 074 (13)
004 0(0)
001 0(0)
005 0(0)
018 0(4)
005 0(3)
016 0(8)   

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 18:42, 04 May 2008 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)
For the American football player, see Leon Clarke (American football player)

Leon Clarke (born 10 February 1985 in Wolverhampton) is an English footballer, currently playing for Sheffield Wednesday of the Championship.

Contents

[edit] Wolverhampton Wanderers

Clarke is a product of Wolves' youth academy, where he worked his way up to making his first team debut in a League Cup win over Darlington on September 23, 2003. However, he did not feature at all in the team's Premier League campaign of that season.

After a loan period at Kidderminster Harriers in Spring 2004, he made his breakthrough into the Wolves first team in the 2004/05 season, and made 31 appearances, scoring 8 times.

During the 2005/06 season his fortunes were mixed, as he benefited from injuries to others in the early part of the season, before slipping down the pecking order later in the season, after new players were signed. He went out on loan twice; first to Queens Park Rangers, then to Plymouth Argyle.

He played regularly in the first half of the 2006/07 season but, in January it was announced on the official Wolves website that Clarke was to be listed for transfer. This was as manager Mick McCarthy wished to "freshen up" the strike force and it was felt that it would be best for Clarke to find a new club.[1]

[edit] Sheffield Wednesday

On 15 January 2007, Sheffield Wednesday manager Brian Laws announced that the Owls had completed the signing of Clarke for an undisclosed fee, thought to be around £300,000 signing a contract until 2009.[2] He wore the number 18 shirt, for the remainder of the 2006-07 season. However, only two months later it was announced that Leon Clarke would be going out on loan to League One promotion chasing side Oldham Athletic without even making a starting appearance for Wednesday.[3]

Clarke proceeded to score his first goal for Oldham against League One rivals Doncaster Rovers in a 4-0 victory on 11 March 2006. In total, Clarke played five games and scored three goals for Oldham. After returning to Hillsborough, he was immediately placed in the first team and scored on his first start in a 2-1 victory against Cardiff City.[4] After only one goal and one start in the early stages of the 2007-08, he was sent on loan to Southend United until January on the last day of the summer 2007 transfer window. He made a great impression on his debut, scoring one goal and setting up two others in a 3-0 victory against Gillingham.[5][6] He has since returned to his parent club Sheffield Wednesday. Leon scored the 3rd goal as Sheffield Wednesday beat Leicester City 3–1 in the vital relegation clash between the clubs on 26 April 2008. Clarke followed this up with another goal in the Owls final game of the season, a 4–1 win over Norwich City at Hillsborough on 4 May 2008.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Striker Made Available For Transfer", wolves.co.uk, 2007-01-08. Retrieved on 2007-01-08. 
  2. ^ "Owls sign Wolves striker Clarke", bbc.co.uk, 15 January 2007. Retrieved on 2008-02-09. 
  3. ^ "Lactics Snare Loan Striker", www.oldhamathletic.co.uk, 1 March 2007. Retrieved on 2008-02-09. 
  4. ^ "Cardiff City v Sheff Weds", Sky Sports, 7 April 2007. Retrieved on 2008-02-09. 
  5. ^ "Southend sign Clarke and Odhiambo", bbc.co.uk, 31 August 2007. Retrieved on 2007-09-29. 
  6. ^ "Southend 3-0 Gillingham", bbc.co.uk, 8 September 2007. Retrieved on 2008-02-09. 

[edit] External links

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