Colin Clarke (born 4 April 1946) is a Scottish former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player and manager. Clarke, who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, spent the majority of his career in England – minus a one-season stint in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

– and made nearly 500 career league appearances.

Career

Born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Clarke began his career in his native Scotland with

Arthurlie Arthurlie is an area of the town of Barrhead, East Renfrewshire, Scotland. History of Arthurlie The lands of Arthurlie were held in medieval times by the Stewart family, a branch of the noble Stewarts of Darnley. Later the lands became the prop ...

, before moving to English giants

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in 1963. Clarke never made a league appearance for Arsenal, and later played for

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

, the

Los Angeles Aztecs The Los Angeles Aztecs were an American professional soccer team based in Los Angeles, California, that existed from 1974 to 1981. The Aztecs competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1974 North American Soccer League season, 1974 ...

, and

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

before becoming player-manager of Kettering Town.

Coaching career

Clarke spent three years in charge of Kettering Town. In July 1991, Clarke became assistant manager at Lincoln City. After six months in the role, the club activated a contractual clause to cancel his two-year contract following his failure to relocate his home to Lincoln as agreed. In July 1992 he became youth development officer at

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

but lasted just four months before departing with the Royals youth team bottom of the South East Counties League Division Two. He was then appointed youth team coach at

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

in February 1993. In 2003 he was appointed assistant head men's soccer coach at the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a Private university, private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian Church, although it is now nondenominational, and the campus ...

. He was named both the 2009 NSCAA Midwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year, and the 2009 National Soccer Coaches Association of America Assistant Coach of the Year. After nine seasons at Tulsa, the conclusion of the 2011 season saw Clarke announce his retirement from coaching.

Honours

Oxford United

* Third Division – Winner

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

References

External links

*
NASL career stats
1946 births Living people Scottish men's footballers Arthurlie F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Los Angeles Aztecs players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players English Football League players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Scottish football managers Kettering Town F.C. managers Corby Town F.C. managers Stafford Rangers F.C. managers Lincoln City F.C. non-playing staff Men's association football central defenders Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Scottish expatriate men's footballers Reading F.C. non-playing staff Aston Villa F.C. non-playing staff 20th-century Scottish sportsmen {{Scotland-footy-defender-1940s-stub