Colin Clarke

Born in Newry, Clarke began his professional career in the Football League Fourth Division at Peterborough United in the 1981–82 season, scoring 18 goals in 84 games over the next three seasons (having a loan spell at Gillingham during his final season at London Road) before he signed for their Fourth Division rivals Tranmere Rovers. Along with fellow striker John Clayton, he formed one of the deadliest strike-forces in the Football League by scoring 22 goals that season, but the 1984–85 campaign ended in disappointment as Tranmere just missed out on promotion. He was then transferred to Third Division club AFC Bournemouth and scored 26 goals, though again his goals were not enough to win his club promotion. In the summer of 1986, Clarke made the big move of his career in a transfer to First Division club Southampton for £500,000, and he was an instant success in his first campaign as a top division striker with 20 league goals, including two hat-tricks in the first few weeks of the season. The Saints reached the semi-finals of the Football League Cup that season. He enjoyed another successful campaign a year later by scoring 16 goals, but a sudden loss of form in 1988–89 restricted him to nine First Division games (in which he failed to score). He was loaned back to Bournemouth (by then in the Second Division) during that campaign and scored twice in four games before a permanent exit from The Dell in March 1989, saw him resume his First Division career with Queens Park…

Clarke was appointed interim coach during the latter half of the 2003 MLS season as a replacement for Mike Jeffries, and was appointed full-time to the position for the 2004 season. Clarke went on to manage both the 2005 and 2006 seasons with great regular season form indeed FC Dallas won the Western Conference comfortably in 2006, but was eliminated in the play-offs in both years latterly after a penalty shoot out. This led to his sacking on 7 November 2006. Before being appointed head coach, Clarke was an assistant coach for the Burn. He spent two seasons as head coach of the Richmond Kickers of the United States' A-League. During that time, he compiled a 38–18 record. On 13 December 1999, he was named head coach of the San Diego Flash, a position he held for one season. Clarke was appointed head coach at Virginia Beach Mariners in January 2007. Within two months of his arrival, the club folded and Clarke was again without a job.

Puerto Rico Islanders

On 22 May 2007, Puerto Rico Islanders appointed Clarke to replace Toribio Rojas as head coach midway through the team's worst season since their creation. During the last half of the 2007 season he turned the squad's fortunes around and managed to cling to the sixth spot in the table, guaranteeing a playoff berth. The squad would make it all the way to the semi-finals where they lost to Seattle Sounders on penalty kicks. Late in 2007 he also took the Islanders to the CFU Club Championship semi-finals, the Caribbean…