Ben Clark (footballer)

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Ben Clark
Name:	Ben Clark
Nickname:
Date of birth:	24 January 1983
Place of birth:	Shotley Bridge
Nationality:	English
Height:	6'2" (188cm)
Current Club:	Hartlepool United
Position:	Central Midfielder/Central Defender
Professional Clubs*
Time	Club	Apps (Goals)
2000-2004	Sunderland	8 (0)
2004-	Hartlepool United	31 (0)
*Professional club caps and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 9 December 2005.

Ben Clark (born 24 January 1983 in Shotley Bridge, England) is a professional footballer who currently plays as a defender/midfielder for Hartlepool United in League One. He is eligible to play for England.

Ben Clark started his career as a trainee for Manchester United. However, Ben Clark missed the north-east so he decided to sign for Sunderland. He made his Sunderland debut in the 2-1 Worthington Cup win against Luton Town in September 2000. However, Ben Clark saw his opportunities at Sunderland limited and he only made 11 appearances in his first three seasons and mainly found himself playing for the reserves. Despite the lack of appearances for his league side, Ben Clark represented England as a defender up until under 20 level and he captained the under 19s.

Ben Clark on the front cover of Victoria Parklife

Mick McCarthy tipped Ben Clark to play an important role in Sunderland’s promotion campaign. However, he decided to let Ben Clark look for new clubs in order to pursue his career. In the 2004/05 season, Ben Clark was signed by Neale Cooper and moved to Hartlepool United. Shortly afterwards he made his debut against Peterborough. However, a series of injuries disrupted his first season at the club and Ben Clark found it difficult to gain a regular starting place in the team and was used a utility player to cover injuries in defence and midfield. Despite this Ben Clark went onto make more first team appearances for Hartlepool than he had done in his whole career, making 25 league appearances and 6 in the cup. He is now the favoured central defender alongside Michael Nelson and their partnership has been outstanding during the 2006/2007 campaign. They played a major part in the 18 game unbeaten run along with Dimitrious Konstantopolous in goal.