Frank Clark (born 9 September 1943) is an English former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

, and former chairman of

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

. Clark played in over 400 games for Newcastle United before moving to Nottingham Forest where he won the European Cup. After retiring as a player, he managed Leyton Orient for nine years (followed by a two-year spell as the club's managing director) and then returned to Nottingham Forest as manager between 1993 and 1996. He then managed Manchester City for just over a year.

Playing career

He started his career at

Crook Town Crook Town Association Football Club is a football club based in Crook, County Durham, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Sir Tom Cowie Millfield. The club won the FA Amateur Cup five times. History Crook Town Footba ...

. He started his professional career at Newcastle United, and played a total of 464 games for them between 1962 and 1975. He was part of Newcastle's

1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final The 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Final was the final of the eleventh Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. It was played on 29 May and 11 June 1969 between Newcastle United of England and Újpesti Dózsa of Hungary. Newcastle won the tie 6–2 on aggregate. ...

6-2 aggregate win against Újpesti Dózsa."How Newcastle United legend Frank Clark celebrated his birthday - with a host of Geordie fans" chroniclelive.co.uk 10 September 2016
/ref> He signed for

Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Engl ...

on a free transfer in July 1975. He was an ever-present in the next two league campaigns culminating in 1977 promotion to the top flight. In their first season back up Forest won the

1977–78 Football League The 1977–78 season was the 79th completed season of The Football League. Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest side took the First Division by storm, first winning the League Cup on 22 March and then confirming themselves as league champions the ...

and the

1978 Football League Cup Final The 1978 Football League Cup Final was the eighteenth League Cup final, and was contested between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest. The initial match resulted in a 0–0 draw at Wembley Stadium on 18 March 1978. The replay was four days later at ...

. His last competitive game playing football was beating

Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening, commonly known as Malmö FF, Malmö, or MFF, is a professional football club and the most successful football club in Sweden in terms of trophies won. Formed in 1910 and affiliated with the Scania Football Association ...

1–0 in the 1979 European Cup Final."Frank CLARK"
/ref>

Managerial career

After his playing career he was assistant manager of Sunderland from 1979 to 1982 and then became manager of

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profession ...

. Although Orient were relegated to the Fourth Division in his second season as manager, he guided them to promotion as playoff winners in 1989 and became managing director of the club two years later, with Peter Eustace being placed in charge of the first team. In May 1993, he returned to Nottingham Forest as manager, as a replacement for the retiring

. Some sources have said that Clough selected Clark for the job in 1993, however Clark's name was submitted far earlier, and by the time of Clough's retirement his preference was his assistant

Ron Fenton Ronald Fenton (21 September 1940 – 25 September 2013) was an English football player, coach and manager. He played as an inside forward and made nearly 200 appearances in the Football League. Fenton was born in South Shields, and began his ...

. Clough's 18-year reign as Forest manager had ended in relegation from the new FA Premier League in 1993, having brought a league title, two European Cups, four League Cups and several top five finishes, and Clark had to deal with the sale of two of Forest's key players - Roy Keane and

Nigel Clough Nigel Howard Clough (born 19 March 1966) is an English professional football manager and former player who is currently the manager of Mansfield Town. Playing predominantly as a forward, but later in his career used as a midfielder, Clough was ...

- for a combined total of more than £6million soon after his return to the

City Ground The City Ground is a football stadium in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest Football Club since 1898 and has a capacity of 30,445. The stadium was a venue when En ...

. However, he was able to hold onto the likes of Stuart Pearce, Steve Chettle, Steve Stone and

Ian Woan Ian Simon Woan (born 14 December 1967) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who is assistant manager of Premier League side Everton. As a player, he was a left winger who notably played in the Premier League for Nott ...

, and took Forest back into the Premier League at the first time of asking, as they finished runners-up in Division One. He was also

Premier League Manager of the Month The Premier League Manager of the Month is an association football award that recognises the best adjudged Premier League manager each month of the season. The winner is chosen by a combination of an online public vote, which contributes to ...

for September 1994, as Forest's fine start to the season saw them in the heat of a title challenge and hopes were high that Clark could take them to the rare distinction of top division title glory a season after promotion – just as his predecessor had done 17 years earlier. They eventually finished third in the table, and qualified for Europe for the first time in 11 years. Forest reached the UEFA Cup quarter finals in 1995-96 under Clark - the best run of any English side in European competitions that season, although their league form dipped and they finished ninth. Clark also struggled to find a suitable successor to striker

Stan Collymore Stanley Victor Collymore (born 22 January 1971) is an English football pundit, sport strategist, and former player who played as a striker from 1990 to 2001, most notably for Nottingham Forest and later Liverpool, who he joined from the for ...

, who was sold to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

for £8.5million in the summer of 1995. In December 1996, with Forest struggling at the bottom of the Premier League, Clark expressed his concern with the boardroom crisis at the club, with rival parties attempting to buy the club. His earlier success with the club had led to him being linked to the

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

job when

Terry Venables Terence Frederick Venables (born 6 January 1943), often referred to as El Tel, is an English former football player and manager, and an author. During the 1960s and '70s, he played for various clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queen ...

announced his intention to resign less than a year earlier. Clark left the club in December. Clark made some shrewd signings as Forest manager, including

and

Lars Bohinen Lars Roar Bohinen (born 8 September 1969) is a Norwegian football manager and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a midfielder from 1986 until 2005, notably playing in the Premier League for Nottingham Forest, Blackburn Rovers a ...

. Collymore was sold to

in June 1995 for a then British transfer fee record of £8.5million, two years after joining Forest from

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

. However, he also made several notably disappointing signings during his final 18 months at the City Ground. The first of these was

Andrea Silenzi Andrea Silenzi (; born 10 February 1966) is an Italian retired Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Centre-forward, centre forward. He was the first Italian to play in the Premier League, when he signe ...

, who was signed as a replacement for Stan Collymore, becoming the first Italian player to appear in the Premier League, but failed to live up to expectations and had returned to Italy within two years.

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n defender

Nikola Jerkan Nikola Jerkan (born 8 December 1964) is a Croatian former footballer who played as a defender. Jerkan was born in Split and started playing football professionally for NK Zagreb. Playing career Club He started his career in youth ranks of Ju ...

, signed a year later, played just 14 games in Forest's 1996-97 relegation campaign, before being loaned out to

Rapid Vienna Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade'' ...

for a season and then returning to the

for a further season, without playing a single game, and finally being discarded by the club in the summer of 1999. Clark's final managerial appointment came at Manchester City immediately after his departure from the City Ground. He arrived at

Maine Road Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England, that was home to Manchester City F.C. from 1923 to 2003. It hosted FA Cup semi-finals, the Charity Shield, a League Cup final and England matches. Maine Road's highest a ...

seven months after City's relegation from the Premier League, with the club in danger of a second successive relegation. Clark steered them to 14th place in Division One that season, only for City's struggles to return in 1997–98 and Clark to be sacked in February 1998, and learnt the news of his dismissal as manager while listening to the local radio at home. Clark was faced with having to halt City's decline while the club was millions of pounds debt and needing to sell its highest-paid players, including a number of disappointing signings and players who were no longer commanding regular selection in the first team. He had paid a club record £3million to bring 22-year-old striker

Lee Bradbury Lee Michael Bradbury (born 3 July 1975) is an English football manager and former footballer who is currently manager of National League club Eastleigh. As a player, he was a striker who made more than 500 appearances in the Football League w ...

to City from

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

in July 1997, but the player failed to live up to expectations, struggling with injuries and inconsistent form, and was eventually sold to

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

in October 1998. Clark's successor,

Joe Royle Joseph Royle (born 8 April 1949) is an English football manager and former footballer. In his playing career as a striker, he debuted for Everton at the age of 16 and went on to play for Manchester City, Bristol City, Norwich City, and the ...

, was unable to save City from relegation, but then guided City to back-to-back promotions.

Nottingham Forest chairman

Clark took over from

Nigel Doughty Nigel Edward Doughty (10 June 1957 – 4 February 2012) was a British investor and football club owner, who was co-chairman and co-founder of Doughty Hanson & Co, a European private equity firm based in London. Doughty was born in Newark, Notti ...

as chairman of Nottingham Forest football club on 12 October 2011. Forest were managerless at the time, following the resignation of

Steve McClaren Stephen McClaren (born 3 May 1961) is an English former professional footballer and coach who currently serves as an assistant coach for Premier League club Manchester United, in his second spell at the club. McClaren began his coaching caree ...

. Clark was sacked from his role as club ambassador on 17 January 2013.

Managerial statistics

Honours

As a player

Crook Town * FA Amateur Cup: 1961–62 Newcastle United * Inter-Cities Fairs Cup: 1968–69 Nottingham Forest * Football League First Division: 1977–78 * Football League Cup: 1977–78, 1978–79 * European Cup: 1978–79

As a manager

Nottingham Forest *Football League First Division runner-up: 1993–94 Individual *

: September 1994, October 1995 *

LMA Manager of the Year The League Managers Association Awards is an annual award ceremony in English football, awarded by the League Managers Association. The most prestigious award is the LMA Manager of the Year award. It is presented to a manager from any division for ...

: 1994–95

References

External links

Frank Clark managerial statistics
at soccerbase.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Frank 1943 births Association football fullbacks Crook Town A.F.C. players English football managers English footballers Leyton Orient F.C. managers Living people Manchester City F.C. managers Newcastle United F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. managers Nottingham Forest F.C. players Sportspeople from Consett Premier League managers Sunderland A.F.C. non-playing staff English Football League managers English Football League players English Football League representative players English football chairmen and investors UEFA Champions League winning players FA Cup Final players Footballers from County Durham