Steve Clarke

St Mirren

Stephen Clarke was born on 29 August 1963 in Saltcoats, Ayrshire. His older brother Paul was a footballer, who played in more than 350 games for Kilmarnock. Spotted while playing for Beith Juniors, Steve began his professional career with St Mirren. Clarke was initially on a part-time contract with St Mirren, while he completed an apprenticeship as an instrument engineer.

Chelsea

Clarke was transferred to Chelsea for £422,000 in January 1987. He stayed at Chelsea until 1998, making 421 appearances. He was a part of the Chelsea sides which won the 1997 FA Cup final, 1998 Football League Cup final and 1998 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final. The latter match, against VfB Stuttgart in Stockholm, was Clarke's final appearance for the club. In 2005, he was voted into Chelsea's centenary XI, occupying the right-back position. Speaking in February 2019, Clarke said he was thankful that Chelsea had signed him as it meant that he and his family no longer had to live with religious sectarianism in the west of Scotland.

Scotland

Clarke represented Scotland in youth internationals during the 1980s, including the 1983 FIFA World Youth Championship held in Mexico. He scored the winning goal in a match against the host nation, which meant that Scotland progressed to the knockout rounds. He later made six appearances for the senior Scotland national team between 1987 and 1994. His debut was a 2–0 friendly win over Hungary at Hampden Park on 9 September 1987,…

Newcastle United

In 1998, Clarke joined Newcastle United as assistant manager to Ruud Gullit, his former manager and teammate at Chelsea. Clarke was part of the coaching team with Gullit, which helped Newcastle reach the 1999 FA Cup Final on 22 May 1999, where Newcastle finished runners up to Manchester United. Clarke was caretaker manager following Gullit's resignation on 28 August 1999, taking charge of one match, a 5–1 defeat against Manchester United on 30 August 1999. For that match, Clarke reinstated Alan Shearer and Rob Lee to the team. Clarke then remained at the club for a period under Bobby Robson.

Chelsea

After a stint in charge of the youth teams at Chelsea, Clarke was promoted to the position of assistant manager when José Mourinho was appointed manager in the summer of 2004. Clarke was a part of the coaching set-up which saw Chelsea win two FA Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups over three seasons under Mourinho. During this period, Clarke completed his UEFA Pro Licence in 2006. When Mourinho left Chelsea in September 2007, Clarke's services were retained by Avram Grant, although Henk ten Cate was brought in as another assistant coach. Both Grant and ten Cate left the club at the end of the 2007–08 season. BBC Sport and The Times both reported then that although Clarke remained on the Chelsea coaching staff, he would be looking to pursue opportunities to become a manager in his own right. Chelsea assured Clarke of his status,…

International

Player

Chelsea

FA Cup: 1996–97; runner-up: 1993–94 Football League Cup: 1997–98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1997–98 Individual

Chelsea Player of the Year: 1994 Chelsea Centenary XI: 2004–05

Assistant Manager

Chelsea

Premier League: 2004–05, 2005–06, FA Cup: 2006–07 Football League Cup: 2004–05

Manager

Scotland

UEFA Nations League League B (1): 2022–23 Individual

Premier League Manager of the Month: November 2012 Scottish Premiership Manager of the Month: December 2017, February 2018, March 2018 SFWA Manager of the Year: 2017–18, 2018–19 PFA Scotland Manager of the Year: 2018–19 SPFL Premiership Manager of the Year: 2018–19