Matthew Clarke (footballer born 1980)

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This article is about the football defender. For the football goalkeeper, see Matt Clarke (footballer born 1973).
Matthew Clarke
Personal information
Full name Matthew Clarke
Date of birth 18 December 1980 (1980-12-18) (age 27)
Place of birth    Leeds, England
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Playing position Defender
Club information
Current club Bradford City
Number 12
Youth clubs
1998–1999 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1999–2002
2002–2006
2006–
2006		 Halifax Town
Darlington
Bradford City
→ Darlington (loan)		 078 0(2)
169 (13)
025 0(1)
002 0(0)   

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 00:25, 17 February 2008 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

Matthew Clarke (born 18 December 1980 in Leeds) is a professional footballer who currently plays as a central defender or sometimes as a striker for Bradford City.

[edit] Career

Matthew started his career as a trainee with Wolverhampton Wanderers but never made it to the first team before signing for Halifax Town in 1999. He played 78 times and scored twice for Halifax Town before signing for Darlington in July 2002 following a trial at Manchester City the previous season.[1] He was set to leave Darlington in May 2005 but following talks with manager David Hodgson he stayed at the club and was rewarded with the club captaincy.[2][3]

He signed for Bradford City in 2006 to replace Damion Stewart after playing 169 league games and scoring 13 goals for Darlington.[4] He was sent off on his debut for City during a Football League Trophy game defeat to Scunthorpe United.[5] He rejoined the Quakers on a month loan during the 2006–07 season after an injury-plagued start to his Bantams career.[6][7] His loan deal lasted two games because of an injury caused by driving before he returned to Bradford,[5] for whom he made his league debut on 5 December 2006.[8] 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 from the team.[9]

He scored his first goal for Bradford City – and first for 21 months – in a 2–0 win over Accrington Stanley on 1 January 2008.[10][11] 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.[12] 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.[13]

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Quakers capture Clarke", BBC Sport, 2002-07-05. Retrieved on 2008-03-10. 
  2. ^ "Clarke set to stay at Darlington", BBC Sport, 2005-05-30. Retrieved on 2008-03-10. 
  3. ^ "Clarke is honoured by captaincy", BBC Sport, 2005-08-08. Retrieved on 2008-03-10. 
  4. ^ "Bradford sign Darlington's Clarke", BBC Sport, 2006-06-24. Retrieved on 2008-03-10. 
  5. ^ a b Parker, Simon. "Journey was a real pain, says Clarke", Telegraph & Argus, 29 November 2006. Retrieved on 2008-01-27. 
  6. ^ "Bantam Clarke to rejoin Quakers", BBC Sport, 2006-10-26. Retrieved on 2008-03-10. 
  7. ^ Parker, Simon. "Long wait is over for Clarke", Telegraph & Argus, 17 October 2006. Retrieved on 2008-01-27. 
  8. ^ Parker, Simon. "Black stars as City end losing run", Telegraph & Argus, 6 December 2007. Retrieved on 2008-01-27. 
  9. ^ Crowther, Mike. "McCall's faith in Clarke is rewarded", Telegraph & Argus, 21 November 2007. Retrieved on 2008-01-27. 
  10. ^ Parker, Simon. "Don't be Staggered if Clarke scores", Telegraph & Argus, 4 December 2007. Retrieved on 2008-01-27. 
  11. ^ Parker, Simon. "Accrington 0 City 2", Telegraph & Argus, 1 January 2008. Retrieved on 2008-01-27. 
  12. ^ Parker, Simon. "Clarke comeback delayed", Telegraph & Argus, 4 March 2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-04. 
  13. ^ Parker, Simon. "Clarke agrees new City deal", Telegraph & Argus, 2008-04-17. Retrieved on 2008-04-17. 

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Bradford City A.F.C. – current squad

3 Heckingbottom • 6 Bower • 7 Daley • 9 Conlon • 10 Thorne • 12 Clarke • 15 Colbeck • 16 Ainge • 19 O'Brien • 22 Nix • 23 Topp • 28 Taylforth • 29 Morgan • 32 Bullock • 29 Sharry • –– Brandon • –– McLaughlin • –– Osborne • Manager: McCall


Persondata
NAME Clarke, Matthew
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Footballer
DATE OF BIRTH 18 December 1980
PLACE OF BIRTH Leeds, England
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH