Caleb Robert Clarke (born June 23, 1993) is a Canadian

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player.

Early career

Clarke began playing youth soccer with the Richmond Selects. He later played with Coastal WFC, with whom he won a USL Super Y-League North American championship title, before joining the Whitecaps FC Academy in 2009. In 2008 and 2009, he trained with Italian club Udinese.

Playing career

Vancouver Whitecaps

From 2010 to 2012, he played with the Vancouver Whitecaps FC U-23 in the

Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental association football, soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United Stat ...

. After impressing with the PDL side, he began appearing with the Vancouver Whitecaps Reserve side in the

MLS Reserve League The MLS Reserve League was a soccer league for the reserve teams of Major League Soccer with teams in both the United States and Canada. It was inaugurated on April 9, 2005, with the first official reserve game being a 2–0 victory by Chivas ...

in 2011, while also training with the first team. In April 2012, he signed a

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

contract with Vancouver Whitecaps FC as a homegrown player, becoming the first Vancouver-area player to graduate from the academy to the first team. In June 2012, he went on trial with German

3. Liga The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...

club FC Rot-Weiß Erfurt, with the possibility of securing a one-year loan. He made his MLS debut on August 15, 2012 as a substitute against FC Dallas. In his first season, he made two substitute appearances with the Whitecaps for a total of 15 minutes of action. In May 2013, he went on trial with Dutch club Feyenoord. In July 2013, he went on loan with German side

FC Augsburg II FC Augsburg II is the reserve team of the German association football club FC Augsburg from the city of Augsburg, Bavaria, whose first team play in the Bundesliga. The team, which has never played above the fourth tier, had its greatest success ...

in the fourth tier Regionalliga Bayern, while also training with the

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

. In 26 appearances, he scored 8 goals, before returning to Canada in May to undergo surgery to repair a ruptured quadriceps muscle at the end of May the following year. In December 2014, he re-signed with the Whitecaps. He spent the majority of the 2015 season playing for the new second team Whitecaps FC 2 in the USL. He scored the first goal in the second team's history on April 1, 2015. After the 2015 season he departed the Whitecaps.

Germany

On February 1, 2016, he returned to Germany, joining fourth tier side SpVgg Unterhaching. Later in 2016, he joined another German side FC Amberg in the fifth tier Bayernliga Nord, also playing for their second team. Following Amberg's relegation, he was released by the club.

University career

In 2018, he began attending the University of British Columbia, playing for the men's soccer team. He scored his first goal in his debut on August 31 against the UFV Cascades. On September 16, he scored a hat trick against the Calgary Dinos, which earned him U Sports Athlete of the Week honours. He was named a Canada West Second Team All-Star.

Amateur and semi-pro

After returning from Germany, he also played at the amateur level in the Vancouver Metro Soccer League with amateur clubs such as CCB United between 2018 and 2022. In July 2019, he signed with the

Victoria Highlanders FC Victoria Highlanders FC is a Canadian soccer team based in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The club was founded in 2008 and currently play in the League1 British Columbia. The team had played in the American USL League Two from 2009 to 201 ...

in USL League Two. In May 2022, he joined Varsity FC in the new

League1 British Columbia League1 British Columbia (L1BC) is a semi-professional men's and women's soccer league in British Columbia, Canada, which began play in May 2022. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the BC Soccer Association as a pr ...

International career

In 2011, he received his first call up to the Canadian national team program, attending a camp for the Canada U18 team. He was a part of the Canada U20 team for the

2013 CONCACAF U-20 Championship The 2013 CONCACAF Under-20 Championship was an association football tournament that took place between February 18 and March 3, 2013. The CONCACAF U-20 Championship determined the four CONCACAF teams that would participate at the 2013 FIFA U-20 Wo ...

, where he scored two goals in a 5-1 victory over Nicaragua U20 on February 22. On November 12, 2013 earned his first call-up for the

Canadian national men's soccer team The Canada men's national soccer team (french: Équipe du Canada de soccer masculin) represents Canada in international soccer competitions since 1924. They are overseen by the Canadian Soccer Association, the governing body for soccer in Can ...

as a replacement for Iain Hume ahead of friendlies against Czech Republic and Slovenia. Clarke made his senior debut on November 15 against in a 2-0 away defeat to Czech Republic as a second half sub for Dwayne De Rosario. In July 2015, he was named to the Canada U23 team for the 2015 Pan Am Games. In May 2016, Clarke was called to U23 national team for a pair of friendlies against

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

and

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...

. He scored in both matches.

References

External links

Caleb Clarke Whitecaps FC profile

Caleb Clarke Stats
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Caleb 1993 births Living people Canadian soccer players Canadian expatriate soccer players Vancouver Whitecaps Residency players Vancouver Whitecaps FC U-23 players Vancouver Whitecaps FC players Whitecaps FC 2 players Association football forwards Expatriate footballers in Germany USL League Two players Major League Soccer players People from Richmond, British Columbia Soccer people from British Columbia Canada men's youth international soccer players Canada men's under-23 international soccer players Canada men's international soccer players Footballers at the 2015 Pan American Games Canadian people of English descent Canadian sportspeople of Jamaican descent FC Amberg players UBC Thunderbirds soccer players Homegrown Players (MLS) Pan American Games competitors for Canada Victoria Highlanders players SpVgg Unterhaching players Regionalliga players Bayernliga players USL Championship players League1 British Columbia players Nautsa’mawt FC players