Lee Clark

Newcastle United

Born in Wallsend, North Tyneside, Clark started his career at the club he supported as a boy, Newcastle United coming up through the youth system at the club. In 1993, he was part of the Newcastle side promoted to the Premier League as champions and then helped them finish as runners-up in both 1995–96 and 1996–97. In 1995–96, Newcastle United were pipped to the title by Manchester United. After a game where Newcastle United drew 3–3 away at Manchester City, Newcastle United purchased defensive midfielder David Batty to shore up the team defensively and Clark, more of an attacking midfielder, lost his place in the side. Clark reasons that this was a mistake that hurt the team dynamic that was working, and that this decision may have cost Newcastle United the title. To back up his claim, Clark cited and compared the form of Newcastle United from January 1996 until he was dropped for defensive midfielder Batty; against the form of Newcastle United in the remaining 11 games when Clark was absent. Clark made nearly 200 appearances scoring 23 goals for Newcastle in his first spell at the club.

Sunderland

Clark moved to Newcastle's local rivals, First Division club Sunderland, in 1997, and was part of the side promoted to the Premier League in 1999 as champions with a (then) professional league record of 105 points. A year earlier, he had been a key player in the side that reached the First Division play-off final, only to suffer a penalty…

Clark scored a hat-trick for England schoolboys at Wembley Stadium in 1988 in a 4–1 win for England. He represented England at international level playing for the England under-21s, making 11 appearances between 1992 and 1993 during his time playing for Newcastle. In 1997, he was a member of England's squad for Le Tournoi de France but did not play.

On 1 June 2006, the newly appointed Newcastle manager Glenn Roeder installed Clark as a first team coach and reserve team manager following Tommy Craig's departure while Clark was still playing for Newcastle. He remained as first team coach and as reserve team manager after retiring in 2007 until Roeder parted company with the club and Clark followed shortly afterwards in November. In November 2007, Clark left his post at Newcastle to become assistant manager to Roeder at Championship club Norwich City. Clark joined Newcastle Blue Star in July 2020 as director of football to temporarily oversee the youth section of the football club.

Huddersfield Town

After League One club Huddersfield Town had dismissed manager Stan Ternent on 4 November 2008, The Terriers were reported to be interested in then Norwich assistant manager Clark. On 12 December 2008, Clark was officially unveiled as the new manager of Huddersfield, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract. Clark replaced Gerry Murphy, who had been caretaker manager for the League One side following the departure of Ternent. The first move made by Clark was to appoint Terry McDermott as his assistant as well as bringing in Derek Fazackerley in as first team coach and Steve Black as performance coach, all of whom had previously worked with Newcastle United. Clark officially took over on 15 December; his first game in charge of the club was a 2–0 win over Hereford United on 20 December. In his first season at the club he helped them to a ninth-placed finish in League One. They also only lost two home league games under Clark in the 2008–09 season. In his second season in charge, Clark helped Huddersfield to secure a play-off spot and became the first manager to win three Manager of the Month awards in a single season since Roberto Martínez in 2007–08. Huddersfield were defeated by Millwall in the 2009–10 play-off semi-final. In the 2010–11 season, Clark guided Huddersfield to a third-placed finish in the league, earning them a place in the play-offs after a club-record 25-game unbeaten run in the league. They reached the final after beating AFC…