Wayne Clarke

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For the radio presenter, see Wayne Clarke (broadcaster).
Wayne Clarke
Personal information
Date of birth 28 February 1961 (1961-02-28) (age 47)
Place of birth    Wolverhampton, England
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Playing position Striker (retired)
Youth clubs
1976–1978 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1978–1984
1984–1987
1987–1989
1989–1990
1990–1992
1990
1991
1991
1992–1993
1993–1995
1995–1996		 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Birmingham City
Everton
Leicester City
Manchester City
→ Shrewsbury Town
→ Stoke City
→ Wolverhampton Wanderers
Walsall
Shrewsbury Town
Telford United		 148 (30)
092 (38)
057 (18)
011 0(1)
021 0(2)
007 0(6)
009 0(3)
001 0(0)
039 (21)
059 (22)
   
National team
England youth
Teams managed
1995–1996 Telford United (player manager)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only.
* Appearances (Goals)

Wayne Clarke (born 28 February 1961) is an English former professional association footballer who played as a striker. He made nearly 450 appearances in the Football League for several different clubs, scoring nearly 150 goals. He is the youngest of five brothers, Frank, Allan, Derek, and Kelvin being the others, who all went on to play league football.

Contents

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Wolverhampton Wanderers

Clarke was born in Wolverhampton. He joined home-town club Wolverhampton Wanderers as an associate schoolboy on his 15th birthday in 1976, despite competition from leading clubs,[1] and became an apprentice when he left school the following year. He also represented England at schoolboy and youth level.[2]

He signed his first professional contract in March 1978,[2] and made his first team debut as a substitute on 9 May 1978 in a 2–1 win away to Ipswich Town.[3] He was a member of the 16-man travelling squad when Wolves won the League Cup in 1980,[4] but did not play. Competing for places with Andy Gray and John Richards, he was a member of the team that suffered relegation from the First Division in 1982 but reclaimed their top flight status the following season. He scored 33 goals in 170 appearances in all competitions[5] before Ron Saunders took him to Second Division Birmingham City in 1984. The fee of £80,000 was set by tribunal and included a clause entitling Wolves to half of any profit made from a future sale of the player.[6]

[edit] Birmingham City

Clarke scored 19 goals in his first season at Birmingham, which made him their leading scorer. His 17 league goals made a major contribution to the club winning the 1984–85 Second Division title. His season in the top flight with Birmingham was interrupted by suspension and minor injuries, and he only managed five goals as the side were relegated. In 1986–87, Clarke again scored 19 goals, which again made him leading scorer. With Birmingham struggling to avoid further relegation to the Third Division and in financial difficulties, the club accepted an offer from Everton who were in need of an emergency replacement for the injured Graeme Sharp.[7] Clarke joined Everton in March 1987 together with inexperienced reserve striker Stuart Storer, the pair jointly valued at £300,000. Former club Wolves complained to the Football League because they believed Birmingham were deliberately inflating the valuation placed on Storer in order to reduce the amount they would owe Wolves under the sell-on clause for Clarke.[6] Birmingham's actions may have been an attempt to recoup money lost on the 1981 sale of Joe Gallagher to Wolves, when the club was declared bankrupt the following year[8] still owing most of the £350,000 fee.[9]

[edit] Everton

Clarke's five goals in ten games, notably the winning goal away at Arsenal not long after he joined,[10] in the remainder of the 1986–87 season was enough to earn him a championship medal.[7] The following year he scored the only goal in the Merseyside derby not only to beat arch-rivals Liverpool, but also to prevent them setting a new record of 30 games unbeaten from the start of a season.[11] At the end of the 1988–89 season, during which he helped his club to reach the FA Cup final but did not play in it, Everton brought in Mike Newell from Leicester City in part exchange for Clarke and £500,000.[12]

[edit] Leicester City

His return to the Second Division was brief. After just 11 league games and one goal, Clarke returned to the top flight with Manchester City, managed by Howard Kendall who had bought him for Everton three years earlier. He moved in a part-exchange deal valued at £650,000 which saw David Oldfield join Leicester.[13]

[edit] Manchester City

He was unable to claim a regular place in the City side. While at Maine Road he was loaned to Shrewsbury Town, where he scored six goals in seven games, then to Stoke City, and then back to Wolves, where he was viewed as a potential partner for Steve Bull. However his first appearance for the club lasted just 20 minutes before he punctured a lung, returned to Manchester City, and on his return to fitness was not allowed out on loan again.[11]

[edit] Walsall

Clarke's next move came in the summer of 1992 when he joined Walsall in Division Three. He was the fourth of the brothers to play for Walsall, and the move meant he had played in all four divisions of the Football League. He was the club's top scorer in the 1992–93 season with 21 goals in 39 games, helping them to a playoff position, but they were heavily defeated in the playoff semifinal by Crewe Alexandra and Clarke was sold to local rivals Shrewsbury Town, managed by former Wolves goalkeeper Fred Davies.[14]

[edit] Shrewsbury Town

Clarke spent two seasons at Gay Meadow. The 1993–94 season brought the Division Three title and promotion to Division Two, and by the time the club released him at the end of the 1994-95 season, he had scored 22 goals in 59 games.

[edit] Managerial career

He was appointed player-manager of Telford United in the GM Vauxhall Conference in July 1995,[15] resigning 18 months later after a spell of poor results, though with the club in mid-table.[16]

In June 1997 he applied for the vacant manager's post at former club Walsall[17] but was unsuccessful.

[edit] After football

Clarke works as a representative for a soft drinks company.[14]

[edit] Honours

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Wolves sign up Clarke No 5" (Times Digital Archive 1785–1985), The Times, 1976-03-01, p. 8. "His signature has been one of the most sought-after in English football, and Wolves have faced competition from nearly all the leading clubs in the country." 
  2. ^ a b Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books, p. 78. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9. 
  3. ^ Wayne Clarke Wolverhampton Wanderers FC. sporting-heroes.net. Retrieved on 2008-01-25.
  4. ^ "Lloyd must lose his place at Wembley" (Times Digital Archive 1785–1985), The Times, 1980-03-14, p. 14. 
  5. ^ Shrewsbury & Wolves: A History. Shrewsbury Wolves Supporters Club. Retrieved on 2008-01-25.
  6. ^ a b Jones, Stuart. "League to rule on Clarke move", The Times, 1987-03-10. Retrieved on 2008-01-25. 
  7. ^ a b VII: Howard's first time (1981-87): A championship for the entire team in 1986–87. Toffeeweb (an Everton fansite). Retrieved on 2008-01-26. “Still, perhaps the most important buy was Wayne Clark, bought from Birmingham to replace the injured Graeme Sharp.”
  8. ^ A History Of Wolves. Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. (2007-07-16). Retrieved on 2008-01-27.
  9. ^ Matthews, pp. 89, 127.
  10. ^ Moore, Glenn. "The new Arsenal take the title in stirring style", The Independent, 1998-05-04. Retrieved on 2008-01-27. "Eleven years ago on this ground a Wayne Clarke goal proved the decisive moment as Everton overhauled Liverpool to win their ninth league title." 
  11. ^ a b Shaw, Phil. "Wayne enjoying his brave new world", The Independent, 1995-12-02. Retrieved on 2008-01-25. 
  12. ^ VIII: Top to bottom (1987-94): Big investments for a new team. Toffeeweb. Retrieved on 2008-01-26.
  13. ^ Ross, Ian; Taylor, Louise. "Kendall admits that City's search for talent is incomplete", The Times, 1990-01-09. Retrieved on 2008-01-27. 
  14. ^ a b Edwards, Leigh. Ultimate Saddlers A-Z 4. Walsall F.C.. Retrieved on 2008-01-26.
  15. ^ "Sporting Digest: Football", The Independent, 1995-07-04. Retrieved on 2008-01-26. 
  16. ^ Metcalf, Rupert. "King marks Telford's change", The Independent, 1996-11-22. Retrieved on 2008-01-26. 
  17. ^ Former striker wants Walsall manager's job. 4thegame.co.uk (1997-06-11). Retrieved on 2008-01-26.

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME Clarke, Wayne
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Professional footballer
DATE OF BIRTH 1961-02-28
PLACE OF BIRTH Wolverhampton, England
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH