John Leslie Clarke (23 October 1946–1 January 2011) was an English former professional footballer who played as a central defender. Clarke was a

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who played his entire career with his home-town club, Northampton Town.

Career

John "Nobby" Clarke won youth International honours for England in the early 1960s, before Northampton Town manager Dave Bowen signed him on in the summer of 1965 beating Leeds United to his signature. He played (and scored) in the side that lost 8–2 to

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

in 1970. Overall he made 262 league and cup appearances for the club, with his only goal coming in his penultimate season, when he scored against

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

. He retired due to injury in 1974 and was awarded a testimonial against Leicester City. Following his professional football career, Clarke took over as manager of British Timken's football team. He was also a talented cricketer a once turned out for the Northamptonshire Second XI.

Death

Clarke died in 2011 on

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after suffering a heart attack.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, John 1946 births 2011 deaths English men's footballers Men's association football defenders English Football League players Northampton Town F.C. players Footballers from Northampton