Allan Clarke (footballer)
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Allan John Clarke | ||
Date of birth | 31 July 1946 | ||
Place of birth | Short Heath, Willenhall, Staffordshire, England[1] | ||
Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2] | ||
Position(s) |
Inside-forward | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1963–1966 | Walsall | 72 | (41) |
1966–1968 | Fulham | 86 | (45) |
1968–1969 | Leicester City | 36 | (12) |
1969–1978 | Leeds United | 273 | (110) |
1978–1980 | Barnsley | 47 | (15) |
Total | 514 | (223) | |
International career | |||
1970–1975 | England | 19 | (10) |
Managerial career | |||
1978–1980 | Barnsley | ||
1980–1982 | Leeds United | ||
1983–1984 | Scunthorpe United | ||
1985–1989 | Barnsley | ||
1990 | Lincoln City | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Allan John Clarke (born 31 July 1946),
Career
Early career
Clarke was born in Short Heath, Willenhall, Staffordshire.[4] He is the third of seven children. Clarke joined Walsall F.C. in 1961 as an apprentice,[5] playing his debut for the Saddlers in October 1963, against Reading.[6] Whilst at the club he scored 46 goals in 82 appearances.[4] He moved to Fulham in March 1966 for a fee of £35,000 , in a transfer deadline deal.[4] Such was his early promise that Leicester City paid £150,000 for Clarke in 1968, a then British football transfer fee record. Frank Large moved to Fulham from Leicester as part of the deal. [7] He spent just one season at Leicester City, in which he scored the winning goal in the semi-final of the 1969 FA Cup, knocking out the team he had supported as a boy – West Bromwich Albion.[8] He also played in the FA Cup final, and he was man of the match, despite Leicester City losing 1–0 to Manchester City.[8]
Leeds United
On 24 June 1969, Leeds United manager Don Revie paid £165,000 to Leicester City for Clarke's services.[9] For the second time, Clarke had topped the British football transfer fee record.[7]
Clarke scored 26 goals in his first season at Leeds and earned the nickname "Sniffer",[9] because of his predatory instincts of "sniffing out" scoring opportunities.[9] Leeds United chased a dream "treble" of League championship, FA Cup and European Cup though ultimately they won nothing.[9] Clarke hit the post in the FA Cup Final at Wembley (with strike partner Mick Jones following up to score the rebound) and then went on a run through several Chelsea defenders in the replay to set up a goal for Jones again, but Leeds United still lost.[5] The title had already gone to Everton who had clinched the title several weeks before the end of the season, and the European Cup campaign ended with defeat to Celtic in the semi-final,(0–1 at Elland Road and 1–2 at Hampden Park).[9]
Clarke was in the Leeds United side that won its second
Clarke played again at Wembley – and lost – when Leeds United were beaten 1–0 by
After this match the Revie side began to break up;[9] their manager had left in 1974 to take the England job,[9] and Clarke himself left the club in 1978 after 351 appearances and 151 goals, with a knee injury curtailing his ability to play at top-flight level.[9] He scored in the 1977 FA Cup semi-final, but the game ended in a 2–1 win by Manchester United.[9]
International career
Clarke was called up for England's 1970 World Cup squad in Mexico, despite being uncapped.[10] He made his debut for his country against Czechoslovakia in the heat and pressure of a World Cup first-round match.[1] Clarke scored the only goal of the match, from the penalty spot.[9] He remains the most recent England player to make his international debut in a World Cup finals match. Over the next five years he appeared a total of 19 times for England, scoring ten goals.[1]
In 1973, he was in the England team which needed to beat Poland at Wembley to qualify for the 1974 World Cup.[11] A goal down, England were awarded a penalty from which Clarke scored,[11] but other than that, he was among many England players to be thwarted by the Polish goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski.[11] A 1–1 draw was not enough, and England did not go through to play in the 1974 World Cup.[11]
Managerial career
Clarke was appointed
Clarke had another spell at Barnsley between 1 July 1985 and 8 November 1989.
Life outside football
From 1993 until he reached retirement age,[15] Clarke was a travelling salesman for MTS Nationwide, a firm based at Wakefield, West Yorkshire.[15] He has, however, remained an outspoken critic of the game, and like all the Leeds United players of the Revie era, has remained fiercely protective of the reputation of both the manager and the club. He has suffered from arthritic knees in recent years.[15] Clarke now lives in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire.[5]
The Clarke footballing brothers
Allan was the second of five brothers to play the professional game – four of whom played for Walsall across three decades.[5] Frank was the only Clarke brother not to represent Walsall, playing for Shrewsbury Town, Queens Park Rangers, Ipswich Town and Carlisle United; Derek played for Walsall, Oxford United and Orient; Kelvin played for Walsall; and the youngest sibling, Wayne Clarke, played for Walsall towards the end of his career.[5]
Career statistics
Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup
|
Europe | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Walsall[6] | 1963–64 | Third Division | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 6 | 0 | |
1964–65 | 43 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 43 | 23 | |||
1965–66 | 24 | 19 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | – | 29 | 21 | |||
Total | 73 | 42 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 78 | 44 | ||
Fulham | 1965–66 | First Division | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | ||
1966–67 | 42 | 24 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 47 | 29 | ||||
1967–68 | 36 | 20 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 5 | 45 | 27 | ||||
Total | 86 | 45 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 57 | ||
Leicester City | 1968–69 | First Division | 36 | 12 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 46 | 16 | ||
Leeds United | 1969–70 | First Division | 28 | 17 | 9 | 7 | – | 5 | 2 | 42 | 26 | |
1970–71 | 41 | 19 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 56 | 23 | ||
1971–72 | 35 | 11 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 0 | – | 45 | 15 | |||
1972–73 | 36 | 18 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 53 | 26 | ||
1973–74 | 34 | 13 | 3 | 0 | – | 5 | 3 | 42 | 16 | |||
1974–75 | 34 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 52 | 22 | ||
1975–76 | 36 | 11 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | 39 | 13 | |||
1976–77 | 20 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | – | 26 | 7 | |||
1977–78 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 11 | 3 | |||
Total | 273 | 110 | 45 | 25 | 15 | 2 | 33 | 14 | 366 | 151 | ||
Barnsley | 1978–79 | Fourth Division | 34 | 12 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | – | 39 | 14 | |
1979–80 | Third Division | 13 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 4 | |||
Total | 47 | 15 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 57 | 18 | ||
Career total | 515 | 224 | 66 | 35 | 33 | 13 | 33 | 14 | 647 | 286 |
Honours
Leeds United[5]
- Football League First Division: 1973–74
- 1973
- 1971
- 1975
Leicester City[16]
- 1969
Individual
- PFA Team of the Year: 1973–74[17]
References
- ^ a b c d e "Allan Clarke". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
- ISBN 0362020175.
- ^ "Allan Clarke". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. Archived from the original on 30 January 2010. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
- ^ a b c "Walsall welcome back legend Allan Clarke". expressandstar.com. 22 March 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s "Leeds United F.C. History - Allan Clarke". OZ White LUFC. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
- ^ ISBN 978-1859831564.
- ^ a b "British transfer fees: From Francis & Ferdinand to Angel Di Maria". BBC Sport. 26 August 2014. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
- ^ a b Hutchinson, John (14 May 2021). "So close and yet so far – The story of Leicester City's FA Cup final near misses". Leicester Mercury.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n "Leeds United Centurions - Allan Clarke was the magnetising frontman of Don Revie's Leeds". LeedsLive. 31 July 2019.
- ^ "FIFA World Football- Statistics and Records – Allan Clarke". FIFA. Archived from the original on 27 June 2008.
- ^ a b c d "England v Poland 1973: When Clough's 'clown' stopped England". BBC Sport. 14 October 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Allan Clarke". leaguemanagers.com. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
- ^ "How History was made". Reading F.C. 21 January 2014.
- ^ A Yorkshire Tragedy: The Rise and Fall of a Sporting Powerhouse By Anthony Clavane
- ^ a b c "Life After United Episode 1 Part 1". YouTube.
- ^ "Manchester City 1 Leicester City 0". FA Cup Finals. 26 April 1969. Archived from the original on 15 April 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
- ^ "Allan Clarke". England Football Online. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
External links
- 'Very honoured for my mum & dad – Clarke'. BBC Sounds, October 2023
- Full Managerial Stats for Leeds United from WAFLL
- Soccerbase managerial statistics Archived 14 November 2004 at the Wayback Machine