Wayne Clarke

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Clarke was born in Short Heath, the fifth son of Frank Clarke Sr. He joined his home-town club Wolverhampton Wanderers as an associate schoolboy on his 15th birthday in 1976, despite competition from leading clubs, and became an apprentice when he left school the following year. Clubs that were interested in taking Clarke at the time included Arsenal and Leeds where he had trials and both Merseysider teams were keen too. Clarke and his parents also went for a meal with Brian Clough who was managing Nottingham Forest and was to be told "look, I want you to come with us" but he preferred to stay at home and signed for the Wanderers. Before any professional debut, Clarke represented England at schoolboy level. On his international schoolboys days, Clarke recalls "My first game as an England Schoolboy was at Oxford United's old ground, we beat Northern Ireland 5-0. I scored a hat-trick playing on the wing. I scored my third goal directly from a corner kick. We played West Germany in Koblenz and the Dutch in Holland. I also played at Wembley twice, against France and Wales." Clarke signed his first professional contract in March 1978, and made his first team debut as a substitute on 9 May 1978 in a 2–1 win away to Ipswich Town aged 17, replacing Mel Eves in the final game of the 1977–78 season. Another debutant that day would be future England captain Terry Butcher. Now in the 1978/79 season, Clarke, still aged 17, was next named on the bench for…

Clarke was appointed player-manager of Telford United in the Conference in July 1995, and resigned 18 months later after a spell of poor results, though with the club in mid-table. In June 1997 he applied for the vacant manager's post at former club Walsall, but was unsuccessful.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Football League Second Division promotion: 1982–83 Birmingham City

Football League Second Division promotion 1984–85 Everton

Football League First Division: 1986–87 FA Charity Shield: 1987 Shrewsbury Town

Football League Third Division: 1993–94