Matthew Clarke (footballer born 1980)
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Matthew Paul Clarke (born 18 December 1980) is an English former 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 played as a defender. He started his professional career in 1998 with
Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
but was released after his first full season as a pro and without making a first team appearance. He went on to play for
Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...
, from where he spent short loans at
Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the Football League in 1893 and remained members of the Second Division until 1912, making Gainsbo ...
and
Frickley Athletic Frickley Athletic Football Club is a football club based in South Elmsall, West Yorkshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Westfield Lane. History Although the club itself claims it was formed in 1910, the team was activ ...
, and Darlington before signing for
Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. ...
in 2006. He remained with The Bantams until 2010 before joining
Maltese Premier League The Maltese Premier League, known as BOV Premier League for sponsorship reasons with Bank of Valletta ( colloquially known as ''Il-Kampjonat Premjer''), is the highest level of professional football in Malta. Managed by the Malta Football Associa ...
side Hibernians; during a three-year spell in
Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
Clarke also played for Msida Saint-Joseph and
Marsaxlokk Marsaxlokk () is a small, traditional fishing village in the South Eastern Region of Malta. It has a harbour, and is a tourist attraction known for its views, fishermen and history. As at March 2014, the village had a population of 3,534. The ...
. After his return to England he had a short spell with
Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Syst ...
club
Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is a town in metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-western suburb of Leeds. It sits in th ...
.


Playing career


Early career

Clarke started his career as a trainee with
Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
but never made a first-team appearance. He signed for
Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...
in 1999. In 2000, he spent short loans at
Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the Football League in 1893 and remained members of the Second Division until 1912, making Gainsbo ...
and
Frickley Athletic Frickley Athletic Football Club is a football club based in South Elmsall, West Yorkshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Westfield Lane. History Although the club itself claims it was formed in 1910, the team was activ ...
. He played 78 times and scored twice for Halifax.


Darlington

He then signed for Darlington in July 2002 following a trial at Manchester City the previous season. He was set to leave Darlington in May 2005 but following talks with manager David Hodgson he stayed on and was rewarded with the captaincy.


Bradford City

He signed for
Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. ...
in 2006 to replace
Damion Stewart Damion Delano Stewart (born 18 August 1980) is a Jamaican professional footballer who last played for Perlis FA in the Malaysia Premier League. Club career Harbour View FC Stewart played for Jamaica side Harbour View FC where he garnered the ni ...
after playing 169 league games and scoring 13 goals for Darlington. He was sent off on his debut for City during a
Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...
game defeat to Scunthorpe United. He rejoined the Quakers on a month's loan during the 2006–07 season after an injury-plagued start to his Bantams career. His loan deal lasted two games because of an injury caused by driving before he returned to Bradford, for whom he made his league debut on 5 December 2006. He played just ten games in his first season for Bradford City and made his first prolonged spell in the first team during the following season when he displaced Mark Bower. He scored his first goal for Bradford City – and first for 21 months – in a 2–0 win over
Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete his ...
on 1 January 2008. He made his first prolonged run of games in the Bradford team until he suffered a medial ligament injury in training, which allowed loan defender TJ Moncur to make his debut and play throughout February and March 2008. He missed the rest of the 2007–08 season because of the injury, but signed a new contract in April 2008, which kept him at Bradford City for the following season. He started the following season, helping Bradford to two clean sheets in their first three league games, before he suffered another injury, after half-an-hour of a 3–2 defeat to
Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spring ...
. City were 1–0 ahead when Clarke went off with a calf injury which was due to keep him out for up to a month. However, after missing a Football League Trophy derby game with
Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...
, he made a quick recovery playing in City's next league game. He was sent off after only 12 minutes of a 3–1 victory against
Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...
on 24 October 2008. In March 2009, Clarke and striker Barry Conlon were both dropped for a game with
Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...
and punished following a breach of club discipline. Manager Stuart McCall said: "It's an internal matter and has been dealt with in the dressing room." In the following game, Clarke scored City's equalising goal, but they fell to a 4–1 defeat to AFC Bournemouth, which prompted McCall to offer to resign if the side did not reach the play-offs. Clarke was released from his contract with Bradford City at the end of the 2009–10 season.


Move to the Maltese League

That summer he moved to
Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
to sign for
Maltese Premier League The Maltese Premier League, known as BOV Premier League for sponsorship reasons with Bank of Valletta ( colloquially known as ''Il-Kampjonat Premjer''), is the highest level of professional football in Malta. Managed by the Malta Football Associa ...
side Hibernians. At the end of the season he moved clubs and joined Msida Saint-Joseph where he scored once in 17 appearances. In the summer of 2012 he signed for
Marsaxlokk Marsaxlokk () is a small, traditional fishing village in the South Eastern Region of Malta. It has a harbour, and is a tourist attraction known for its views, fishermen and history. As at March 2014, the village had a population of 3,534. The ...
and eventually left the club and the country the end of the 2012–13 season. Despite the suggestion on
Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...
's website that Clarke had joined the Conference National club on trial in early July 2013, joint manager Rob Scott said he was just training with Grimsby as a favour. He signed for
Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is a town in metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-western suburb of Leeds. It sits in th ...
of the
Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Syst ...
on 13 September, and left a few weeks later having made just one appearance.


Personal life

He is the twin brother of fellow footballer Chris Clarke.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Matthew 1980 births Living people Footballers from Leeds English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players Frickley Athletic F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Hibernians F.C. players Marsaxlokk F.C. players Msida Saint-Joseph F.C. players Guiseley A.F.C. players English Football League players Maltese Premier League players National League (English football) players English twins