Bobby Clark (footballer, born 2005)

Bobby Clark

Clark with Red Bull Salzburg in 2024
Personal information
Full name	Bobby Lamont Clark [1]
Date of birth	(2005-02-07) 7 February 2005 (age 19)
Place of birth	Epsom, England
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) [2]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Red Bull Salzburg
Number	10
Youth career
2012–2014	Birmingham City
2014–2021	Newcastle United
2021–2022	Liverpool
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2022–2024	Liverpool	6	(0)
2024–	Red Bull Salzburg	12	(1)
International career‡
2021	England U16	1	(0)
2022–	England U18	6	(1)
2023	England U19	2	(0)
2024–	England U20	1	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:01, 14 December 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 00:24, 25 March 2024 (UTC)

Bobby Lamont Clark (born 7 February 2005) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Austrian Bundesliga club Red Bull Salzburg.

Early life

Clark trained with the academy at Birmingham City when his father, Lee Clark, was the manager there. The family moved back to the northeast of England in 2014. After visiting all the clubs in the area Clark chose to join the academy at Newcastle United. ^[3]

Club career

Liverpool

Clark moved to the academy of Liverpool from Newcastle United in August 2021. ^[4] The fee was thought to be for a total including add-ons of £1.5 million. ^[5] He agreed a professional contract with the club shortly after his seventeenth birthday in February 2022. ^[6] The contract was for five years and came with a personal guarantee from Liverpool's first team manager Jürgen Klopp that there would be a pathway to the first team available to him. ^[7]

Featuring for the Liverpool under-18 side in the 2021–22 season Clark scored 13 goals in 23 matches. He also made his debut for the Liverpool side that competes in the Premier League 2. ^[8] In the summer of 2022, Clark went with the Liverpool first-team squad on their trip to Asia for matches in Thailand and Singapore. ^[9] Clark has featured as part of BBC Sport website Wonderkids feature, ^[10] and was identified in August 2022 as one of the "Five Young English Footballers to Watch Out for" on their website. ^[11]

Clark was an unused substitute for Liverpool's first home game of the 2022–23 Premier League season, against Crystal Palace at Anfield. On 27 August 2022, Clark made his professional debut appearing as a substitute for Liverpool against AFC Bournemouth in a 9–0 win at Anfield. ^[12] Later that year, on 9 November, he started his first game for Liverpool in a victory against Derby County in the third round of the EFL Cup at Anfield. ^[13]

On 25 February 2024, he featured in the EFL Cup final as Liverpool defeated Chelsea 1–0 after extra time. ^[14] A few weeks later, on 14 March, he scored his first goal for the club in a 6–1 Europa League win over Sparta Prague during the round of 16, in which he became the youngest player to score for Liverpool in European competitions, breaking the previous record set by Trent Alexander-Arnold in 2017. ^[15]

Red Bull Salzburg

On 22 August 2024, Clark signed for Austrian Bundesliga club Red Bull Salzburg on a five-year contract. ^{[16] [17]} The transfer, worth an estimated £10 million plus a 17.5% sell-on fee, saw him reunite with former Liverpool assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders. ^[18] He made his debut for Salzburg in a 3–0 loss to Sparta Prague in the Champions League. ^[19]

International career

Clark made his debut for the England national under-16 football team against Wales U16 in April 2021. ^[20]

On 21 September 2022, Clark made his England U18 debut during a 1–0 win over the Netherlands in Pinatar. ^[21] On 6 September 2023, Clark made his England U19 debut during a 1–0 defeat to Germany in Oliva. ^[22]

On 22 March 2024, Clark made his debut for the England Elite League squad during a 5–1 win over Poland at the Bialystok City Stadium. ^[23]

Career statistics

As of match played 14 December 2024

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup [a]		League cup [b]		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Liverpool U21	2021–22 [24]	—			—		—		—		1 [c]	0	1	0
	2022–23 [25]	—			—		—		—		1 [c]	0	1	0
	2023–24 [26]	—			—		—		—		1 [c]	1	1	1
	Total		—		—		—		—		3	1	3	1
Liverpool	2022–23 [25]	Premier League	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
	2023–24 [26]	Premier League	5	0	3	0	2	0	2 [d]	1	—		12	1
	Total		6	0	3	0	3	0	2	1	0	0	14	1
Red Bull Salzburg	2024–25 [27]	Austrian Bundesliga	12	1	2	0	—		5 [e]	0	—		19	1
Career total			18	1	5	0	3	0	7	1	3	1	36	3

1. Includes FA Cup, Austrian Cup
2. Includes EFL Cup
3. Appearance in EFL Trophy
4. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
5. Appearances in UEFA Champions League

Honours

Liverpool

• EFL Cup: 2023–24 ^[28]

References

1. "2023/24 Premier League squad lists". Premier League. 13 September 2023. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
2. "Bobby Clark". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
3. O'Neill, Caoimhe. "Bobby Clark: The Liverpool u18s recruit who scored on his debut and has been in demand since the age of nine". The Athletic.
4. "Liverpool set to sign Newcastle teenager Bobby Clark". Goal.com.
5. "LIVERPOOL USED £1.5M SALE TO SIGN BOBBY CLARK; KLOPP 'BIG ADMIRER' ALREADY". hitc.com. Archived from the original on 18 September 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
6. "Bobby Clark". Liverpool F.C.
7. "Jurgen Klopp has big plans for ex-Newcastle United kid Bobby Clark and hands him five-year contract". Chroniclelive.co.uk. 2 March 2022.
8. "Liverpool new signings and promotions set to be unleashed as Bobby Clark takes next step". Liverpoolecho.co.uk. 13 August 2022.
9. "Former Newcastle United youngster Bobby Clark wins Liverpool first-team call-up". Chroniclelive.co.uk. 7 July 2022.
10. "Newcastle academy star Clark hits top bins in Wonderkids". BBC Sport.
11. "Five young English footballers to watch out for". BBC Sport.
12. "B.Clark". Soccerway.com.
13. "Kelleher's shootout saves see Liverpool scrape past Derby in Carabao Cup". The Guardian. 9 November 2022. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
14. Hytner, David (25 February 2024). "Liverpool win Carabao Cup as Van Dijk's extra-time header sinks Chelsea". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
15. Jones, Andy (14 March 2024). "Liverpool 6 Sparta Prague 1 (11–2 on agg): Fast start finishes tie, Salah stat attack". The Athletic.
16. "New signing from Liverpool". FC Red Bull Salzburg. 22 August 2024. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
17. "Bobby Clark completes permanent transfer to Red Bull Salzburg". Liverpool F.C. 22 August 2024. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
18. Hunter, Andy (22 August 2024). "Bobby Clark reunited with Lijnders at RB Salzburg as Liverpool sell for £10m". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
19. Corless, Liam (18 September 2024). "Stefan Bajcetic and Bobby Clark endure nightmare debuts for RB Salzburg". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved 30 September 2024.
20. "ENGLAND U16 VS. WALES U16 2–3". Soccerway.
21. Veevers, Nicholas (21 September 2022). "Late winner seals victory for MU18s over Netherlands". England Football. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
22. "Report: England MU19s 0–1 Germany". England Football. 6 September 2023.
23. "Report: Poland 1–5 England Elite League Squad". England Football. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
24. "Games played by Bobby Clark in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
25. "Games played by Bobby Clark in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
26. "Games played by Bobby Clark in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 March 2024.
27. "Games played by Bobby Clark in 2024/2025". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
28. McNulty, Phil (25 February 2024). "Chelsea 0–1 Liverpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 February 2024.

External links

• Profile at the FC Red Bull Salzburg website
• Bobby Clark – UEFA competition record ( archive )