Sammy Clingan

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Personal information
Sammy Clingan
Full name	Sammy Clingan
Date of birth	13 January 1984 (1984-01-13) (age 24)
Place of birth	Belfast, Northern Ireland
Height	180cm
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Nottingham Forest
Number	16
Youth clubs
2001–2003	Wolverhampton Wanderers
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2003–2006 2004–2005 2005–2006 2006–	Wolverhampton Wanderers → Chesterfield (loan) → Chesterfield (loan) Nottingham Forest	0 (0) 15 (2) 14 (1) 86 (1)
National team²
2006–	Northern Ireland	12 (1)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 25/11/2007. ² National team caps and goals correct as of 25/11/2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Sammy Clingan (born Belfast, January 13, 1984) is a Northern Ireland international professional footballer currently playing for Nottingham Forest in the Championship.

He is 5'11" (1.80 metres) tall and weighs 11st 6lbs (72.6 kg). He plays primarily as a central midfielder, and can also play on the right wing. He is a set piece specialist for Northern Ireland, and takes many of the Forest free kicks, along with Kris Commons.

1 Club career
2 International career
3 Honours
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Club career

Clingan started his career in August 2001 as a youth trainee at Wolverhampton Wanderers. He was captain of the Wolves reserves in 2003-2004, but never broke into the first team and was loaned out to Chesterfield on two occasions to gain experience. Between October 2004 and January 2006, he played 29 times for the Spireites and scored 3 goals (all from free kicks).

In early 2006, Nottingham Forest confirmed their interest in him. The original deal fell through because of the existing loan deal with Chesterfield, but when his loan period ended on January 15, Forest made a second bid. Despite the player's wish to remain at Chesterfield, the club were unable to match the offer, and Clingan joined Forest on the 23rd for an undisclosed fee, making his debut in a 2-0 defeat to Barnsley.

Clingan had been playing good football for Forest during the 2006-2007 season, but sustained a broken ankle during the 5-1 victory over Huddersfield Town in early March 2007, and was sidelined for the rest of the season. Clingan has started almost every game in Forest's midfield this season, helping them into second place in the table. He got his first goal for the Reds after 22 months and 59 games, with a 22-yard free-kick in Forest's 2-0 win over Crewe on 24 November 2007. He had a bad week in December 2007 as he gave the ball away allowing Walsall to score in their 1-0 win, then 4 days later was harshly sent off at Brighton and served a three-match ban. He returned to the team and played consistently well through 2008 that helped Forest gain automatic promotion to the Championship.

In May, 2008, Forest offered Clingan a new deal, which he is currently mulling over with his current deal set to expire in June 2008. ^[1] He has attracted interest from Championship rivals QPR, Ipswich and Norwich.

[edit] International career

Clingan has represented Northern Ireland at Under 17, Under 19 and Under 21 levels. He gained 6 Under 21 caps and captained the side. He made his senior debut at the Giants Stadium in New York against Uruguay during Northern Ireland's two-game tour of the USA in May 2006.

His first competitive senior cap came in the 3-0 home defeat by Iceland on 2 September 2006, in the first match of the Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, and he has remained a fixture in the side since then, missing only two matches in the campaign through injury. His free kick set up David Healy's second goal in the 3-2 home victory over Spain on 6 September 2006, and he was named man of the match by the BBC commentary team in the 2-1 home victory over Denmark on 17 November 2007.