Derek Clarke

Last updated

Derek Clarke
Personal information
Date of birth (1950-02-19) 19 February 1950 (age 74)
Place of birth Willenhall, England
Height5 ft 8+14 in (1.73 m) [1]
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
Walsall
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1967–1968 Walsall 6 (2)
1968–1970 Wolverhampton Wanderers 5 (0)
1970–1976 Oxford United 178 (35)
1976–1978 Orient 36 (6)
1978Carlisle United (loan) 1 (0)
Total226(43)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Derek Clarke (born 19 February 1950) is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League as a forward for Walsall, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Oxford United, where he spent the majority of his career, Orient and Carlisle United. [2] He is the third of five footballing brothers, the others being Frank, Allan, Kelvin and Wayne, who all played League football. [3]

Clarke was born in Willenhall, [2] and began his professional career at nearby Walsall. He joined Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1968, [3] but made just five appearances in two full seasons for the First Division club before moving to Oxford United in October 1970. [4] He spent six years at Oxford, making 178 Second Division appearances, then left the Manor Ground when the club was relegated in 1976. He then joined Orient, where he spent two seasons, which included an appearance in the semi-final of the 1977–78 FA Cup and a loan spell at Carlisle United, before injury forced his retirement. [2] [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Wright (footballer, born 1924)</span> English footballer (1924–1994)

William Ambrose Wright was an English footballer who played as a centre-back. He spent his entire club career at Wolverhampton Wanderers. The first footballer in the world to earn 100 international caps, Wright also held the record for longest unbroken run in competitive international football, with 70 consecutive appearances, although that was surpassed by Andoni Zubizarreta's 86 consecutive appearances for Spain (1985–94). He also made a total of 105 appearances for England, captaining them a record 90 times, including during their campaigns at the 1950, 1954 and 1958 World Cup finals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.</span> Association football club in England

Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club, commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's traditional kit consists of old gold shirts and socks with black shorts. Since 1979, the kit has also featured the club's "wolf's head" logo. Long-standing rivalries exist with other clubs from the West Midlands, including Aston Villa, and Birmingham City but the main one being the Black Country derby contested with West Bromwich Albion. Since 2016, the club has been owned by the Chinese conglomerate Fosun International.

Allan John Clarke, nicknamed "Sniffer", is a former professional footballer who played in the Football League for Walsall, Fulham, Leicester City, Leeds United and Barnsley, and won 19 international caps for England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tommy Docherty</span> Scottish association footballer and manager (1928–2020)

Thomas Henderson Docherty, commonly known as The Doc, was a Scottish football player and manager. Docherty played for several clubs, most notably Preston North End, and represented Scotland 25 times between 1951 and 1959. He then managed a total of 13 clubs between 1961 and 1988, as well as the Scotland national team. Docherty was manager of Manchester United between 1972 and 1977, during which time they were relegated to the Second Division, but promoted back to the First Division as champions at the first attempt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Ricketts</span> Wales international football player and manager

Samuel Derek Ricketts is a professional football coach and former player.

Wayne Clarke is an English former professional footballer.

Simon Edward Osborn is an English former football player and football manager. A midfielder, he played 395 league and cup games in a 17-year career in the English Football League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Stowell</span> English footballer

Michael Stowell is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and is currently the goalkeeping coach at Israeli Premier League club Maccabi Tel Aviv. As a player, he spent twenty years as a professional, eleven of which were with Wolverhampton Wanderers. He is married to former England women's international footballer Rachel Stowell.

Harry Wood was an English professional footballer who played most of his career as an inside forward for Wolverhampton Wanderers and Southampton.

Kenneth Hibbitt is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League for Bradford Park Avenue, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Coventry City and Bristol Rovers, and in the North American Soccer League for the Seattle Sounders. He was capped once for England at under-23 level. As a manager, he took charge of Walsall, Cardiff City and Hednesford Town. He is most known for his time at Wolverhampton Wanderers, for whom he played from 1968 to 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobby Thomson (footballer, born 1943)</span> English footballer (1943–2009)

Robert Anthony Thomson was an English professional footballer. He made 478 appearances in the English Football League and won eight caps for England.

Paul William Bradshaw was an English professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper in the Football League for Blackburn Rovers, Wolverhampton Wanderers, West Bromwich Albion, Bristol Rovers, Newport County and Peterborough United, and in the North American Soccer League for the Vancouver Whitecaps.

The 1977–78 FA Cup was the 97th season of the world's oldest knockout football competition, The Football Association Challenge Cup, or FA Cup. The final saw Ipswich Town beat Arsenal 1–0, with a goal from Roger Osborne.

Gerald William Taylor is an English former footballer who played in the Football League as a defender for Wolverhampton Wanderers, where he spent the majority of his playing career, and Swindon Town, and in the United Soccer Association league for the Los Angeles Wolves.

Barry Henry Stobart was an English footballer who played in the Football League as a forward for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Manchester City, Aston Villa and Shrewsbury Town during the 1960s.

Colin James Brazier is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender in the Football League for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Birmingham City, Lincoln City and Walsall, and in the North American Soccer League for the Jacksonville Tea Men.

Terence J. Wharton is a former professional footballer who scored 98 goals in 347 appearances in the English Football League. He played as a winger for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Bolton Wanderers, Crystal Palace, Walsall and Kidderminster Harriers in a 17-year senior career spanning from 1957 to 1974.

The 2013–14 season was the 115th season of competitive league football in the history of English football club Wolverhampton Wanderers. The club competed in League One, the third tier of the English football system for the first time since 1988–89. The previous season had brought relegation for a second successive season.

The 2018–19 season was the 141st in the history of Wolverhampton Wanderers and the 2nd under then-head coach Nuno Espírito Santo. In that season, they returned to the Premier League for the first time since being relegated in 2012 via winning the previous season's EFL Championship. They also reached their first knockout competition semi-final in 21 years through their participation in the FA Cup semi-finals.

References

  1. Vernon, Leslie; Rollin, Jack, eds. (1976). Rothmans Football Yearbook. 1976–77. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 294. ISBN   978-0-362-00259-1.
  2. 1 2 3 "Derek Clarke". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  3. 1 2 Edwards, Leigh. "Ultimate Saddlers A-Z 4". Walsall F.C. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  4. "Leaving Wolves Made Derek Weep". Wolves Heroes. 18 July 2009. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
  5. Maul, Rob (8 May 2005). "Caught in Time: Leyton Orient reach the 1978 FA Cup semi-final". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 16 December 2009.[ dead link ]