Ryan James Clarke (born 30 April 1982) is an English professional

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 ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for National League South club

Bath City Bath City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Bath, Somerset, England. The club is affiliated to the Somerset FA and currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club have ...

. He previously trained with the England under-18 squad in

La Manga La Manga (), or La Manga del Mar Menor (meaning "The Sandbar of the Minor Sea") is a seaside spit of Mar Menor in the Region of Murcia, Spain. The strip is 21 km long and 100 metres wide (average), separating the Mediterranean Sea from the ...

Career

Bristol Rovers

Born in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, Clarke started his career with

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

; during his time on Rovers' books he had spells on loan at

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team compete in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. Formed in ...

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 ...

and

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

, where he worked with former

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 ...

wicketkeeper Jack Russell as his goalkeeper coach.

Salisbury City

Clarke joined Salisbury City from Bristol Rovers in August 2006. In the summer of 2008, he broke a metatarsal while on holiday. This setback lead to James Bittner claiming the number one shirt from him, and Clarke was then loaned out to

Northwich Victoria {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

to reduce the club's wage bill.

Oxford United

Clarke joined

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...

on 26 May 2009. He was their regular goalkeeper in the 2009–10 campaign and, despite his scoring an own goal in the

2010 Conference Premier play-off Final The 2010 Conference Premier play-off Final, known as the 2010 Blue Square Premier play-off Final for sponsorship purposes, was a football match between Oxford United and York City on 16 May 2010 at Wembley Stadium in London. It was the eighth Co ...

against

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

on 16 May, his Oxford side still secured a return to the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

after a four-year exile as 3–1 winners. At the end of the season, Clarke was voted Player of the Year by the Oxford supporters for his feats between the posts. On 12 January 2011, Oxford United announced that Clarke had signed a three-and-a-half-year contract, meaning he would stay at the club until 2014. On 30 January 2014, he signed another three-year deal, keeping him at the club until 2017.

Northampton Town

Clarke signed for League Two club

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

on a two-year contract on 2 July 2015.

AFC Wimbledon and Eastleigh

On 21 June 2016, Clarke joined

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

newcomers

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...

on a one-year contract. On 21 September Clarke moved to

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...

on a two-year deal. In April 2017 Clarke's contract with Eastleigh was terminated with mutual consent.

Torquay United

On 24 June 2017, Clarke signed for

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

club

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

. He was transfer-listed by Torquay at the end of the 2017–18 season.

Career statistics

Honours

Salisbury City *

Conference South The National League South, formerly Conference South, is one of the second divisions of the National League in England, immediately below the top division National League. Along with National League North, it is in the second level of the N ...

play-offs: 2006–07 Oxford United *

Conference Premier The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profess ...

play-offs: 2009–10

References

External links

Ryan Clarke profile
at the

Eastleigh F.C. Eastleigh Football Club is a professional association football club based in Eastleigh, Hampshire, England. They currently compete in and play their home matches at The Silverlake Stadium. History Formation to Wessex League (1946–1986) Th ...

website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Ryan 1982 births Living people Footballers from Bristol English footballers Association football goalkeepers Bristol Rovers F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players Salisbury City F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players AFC Wimbledon players Eastleigh F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Bath City F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players