Allan Clarke (footballer)

Allan John Clarke (born 31 July 1946),<ref name="nft"/> nicknamed "Sniffer", is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League for Walsall, Fulham, Leicester City, Leeds United and Barnsley, and won 19 international caps for England.<ref name=NB>Template:Cite web</ref>

Career

Early career

Clarke was born in Short Heath, Willenhall, Staffordshire.<ref name="walsall">Template:Cite web</ref> He is the third of seven children. Clarke joined Walsall in 1961 as an apprentice,<ref name="oz"/> playing his debut for the Saddlers in October 1963, against Reading.<ref name="wfc"/> Whilst at the club he scored 46 goals in 82 appearances.<ref name="walsall"/> He was transferred to Fulham in March 1966 for a fee of £35,000.<ref name="walsall"/> Such was his early promise that Leicester City paid £150,000 for Clarke in 1968, a then British football transfer fee record. Frank Large moved to Fulham from Leicester as part of the deal. <ref name="£150K">Template:Cite web</ref> Clarke spent just one season at Leicester City, in which he scored the winning goal in the semi-final of the 1969 FA Cup, knocking out the team he had supported as a boy – West Bromwich Albion.<ref name="leic">Template:Cite web</ref> He also played in the FA Cup final and was man of the match, despite Leicester City losing 1–0 to Manchester City.<ref name="leic"/>

Leeds United

On 24 June 1969, Leeds United manager Don Revie paid £165,000 to Leicester City for Clarke's services.<ref name="£165K">Template:Cite web</ref> For the second time, Clarke had topped the British football transfer fee record.<ref name="£150K"/>

Clarke scored 26 goals in his first season at Leeds and earned the nickname "Sniffer",<ref name="£165K"/> because of his predatory instincts of "sniffing out" scoring opportunities.<ref name="£165K"/> Leeds United chased a dream "treble" of League championship, FA Cup and European Cup though ultimately they won nothing.<ref name="£165K"/> Clarke hit the post in the FA Cup Final at Wembley (with strike partner Mick Jones following up to score the rebound) and then went on a run through several Chelsea defenders in the replay to set up a goal for Jones again, but Leeds United still lost.<Ref name="oz"/> The title had already gone to Everton who had clinched the trophy several weeks before the end of the season, and the European Cup campaign ended with defeat to Celtic in the semi-final (0–1 at Elland Road and 1–2 at Hampden Park).<ref name="£165K"/>

Clarke was in the Leeds United side that won its second Fairs Cup in 1971,<ref name="£165K"/> scoring in the final against Juventus.<ref name="£165K"/> Leeds United reached the FA Cup Final again in the competition's centenary year, and at Wembley they faced the Cup holders, Arsenal.<Ref name="oz"/> Clarke scored the only goal of the game with a diving header from a Jones cross early in the second half.<ref name="£165K"/> He had hit the crossbar with another diving header earlier in the game. Unfortunately for Clarke and Leeds, they lost the League title and the chance of emulating Arsenal's previous season "double" when they lost to Wolverhampton Wanderers two days after winning the FA Cup.<Ref name="oz"/>

Clarke played again at Wembley – and lost – when Leeds United were beaten 1–0 by Sunderland in the 1973 FA Cup Final.<Ref name="oz"/> Clarke was again Leeds United's top scorer as Leeds United won the league title in 1974, including a run of 29 opening matches without defeat.<Ref name="oz"/> Leeds United lost the 1975 European Cup Final to Bayern Munich 2–0 and were denied a clear penalty when Clarke was tackled from behind and felled by Franz Beckenbauer in the penalty area.<ref name="£165K"/>

After this match the Revie side began to break up;<ref name="£165K"/> their manager had left in 1974 to take the England job,<ref name="£165K"/> and Clarke himself left the club in 1978 after 351 appearances and 151 goals, with a knee injury curtailing his ability to play at top-flight level.<ref name="£165K"/> He scored in the 1977 FA Cup semi-final, but the game ended in a 2–1 win by Manchester United.<ref name="£165K"/>

International career

Clarke was called up for England's 1970 World Cup squad in Mexico, despite being uncapped.<ref name="fifa">Template:Cite web</ref> He made his debut for his country against Czechoslovakia in the heat and pressure of a World Cup first-round match.<ref name="nft"/> Clarke scored the only goal of the match, from the penalty spot.<ref name="£165K"/> He remains the most recent England player to make his international debut in a World Cup finals match. Over the next five years he appeared a total of 19 times for England, scoring ten goals.<ref name="nft"/>

In 1973, he was in the England team which needed to beat Poland at Wembley to qualify for the 1974 World Cup.<ref name="poland">Template:Cite web</ref> A goal down, England were awarded a penalty from which Clarke scored,<ref name="poland"/> but other than that, he was among many England players to be thwarted by the Polish goalkeeper Jan Tomaszewski.<ref name="poland"/> A 1–1 draw was not enough, and England did not go through to play in the 1974 World Cup.<ref name="poland"/>

Managerial career

Clarke was appointed Barnsley player-manager on 1 June 1978,<ref name="manager">Template:Cite web</ref> and under him they won promotion to the old third Division in May 1979, Clarke scoring 12 goals himself that season including a hat-trick against Port Vale on Boxing Day.<Ref name="oz"/> On 29 December 1979, Barnsley lost 7–0 at Reading, and Clarke decided to end his playing career.<Ref name="oz"/> He took his players down Woolley Colliery to show them what they could have been doing for a living.<ref name="royals">Template:Cite web</ref><ref> A Yorkshire Tragedy: The Rise and Fall of a Sporting Powerhouse By Anthony Clavane</ref> Clarke then began to bring in new players such as Trevor Aylott and Derrick Parker and Ian Evans and Barnsley finished mid-table.<Ref name="oz"/> Clarke left Barnsley in September 1980 to manage Leeds United.<ref name="manager"/> Leeds finished 9th under Clarke at the end of his first season as manager, but the following season, they were beaten 5–1 at Swansea on the opening day, and only won once until October.<Ref name="oz"/> Leeds were relegated and Clarke was sacked on 25 June 1982.<ref name="manager"/> He then became manager at Scunthorpe United between February 1983, and 24 August 1984,<ref name="manager"/> when he and the chairman both resigned.<Ref name="oz"/> He led Scunthorpe to promotion to the Third Division in May 1983, but a year later they were relegated.<Ref name="oz"/>

Clarke had another spell at Barnsley between 1 July 1985 and 8 November 1989.<ref name="manager"/> Despite having no money to spend, low gates, and being forced to sell players such as David Hirst and John Beresford,<Ref name="oz"/> Clarke led Barnsley to the fifth round of the FA Cup twice, when they were knocked out by Arsenal in 1987 and Everton in 1989.<Ref name="oz"/> At the end of 1988–89 season, Barnsley finished just two points off securing a play-off place, losing only twice in the last 17 games. However, in the following season, after a bright start, a bad run saw Barnsley move, by 4 November, to fifth-from-bottom.<Ref name="oz"/> Four days later Clarke was sacked.<ref name="manager"/> He was Lincoln City caretaker manager for six months, being replaced by Steve Thompson on 30 November 1990.<ref name="manager"/>

Life outside football

From 1993 until he reached retirement age,<Ref name="life">Template:Cite web</ref> Clarke was a travelling salesman for MTS Nationwide, a firm based at Wakefield, West Yorkshire.<Ref name="life"/> He has, however, remained an outspoken critic of the game, and like all the Leeds United players of the Revie era, has remained fiercely protective of the reputation of both the manager and the club. He has suffered from arthritic knees in recent years.<Ref name="life"/> Clarke now lives in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire.<Ref name="oz"/>

The Clarke footballing brothers

Allan was the second of five brothers to play the professional game – four of whom played for Walsall across three decades.<ref name="oz"/> Frank was the only Clarke brother not to represent Walsall, playing for Shrewsbury Town, Queens Park Rangers, Ipswich Town and Carlisle United; Derek played for Walsall, Oxford United and Orient; Kelvin played for Walsall; and the youngest sibling, Wayne Clarke, played for Walsall towards the end of his career.<ref name="oz"/>

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition"<ref name="nft">Template:NFT player</ref>

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Walsall<ref name="wfc">Template:Cite book</ref>	1963–64	Third Division	6	0	0	0	0	0	–		6	0
	1964–65	Third Division	43	23	0	0	0	0	–		43	23
	1965–66	Third Division	24	19	2	1	3	1	–		29	21
	Total		73	42	2	1	3	1	0	0	78	44
Fulham	1965–66	First Division	8	1	0	0	0	0			8	1
	1966–67	First Division	42	24	3	3	2	2			47	29
	1967–68	First Division	36	20	3	2	6	5			45	27
	Total		86	45	6	5	8	7	0	0	100	57
Leicester City	1968–69	First Division	36	12	8	1	2	3			46	16
Leeds United	1969–70	First Division	28	17	9	7	–		5	2	42	26
	1970–71	First Division	41	19	4	1	1	0	10	3	56	23
	1971–72	First Division	35	11	6	4	4	0	–		45	15
	1972–73	First Division	36	18	8	6	4	0	5	2	53	26
	1973–74	First Division	34	13	3	0	–		5	3	42	16
	1974–75	First Division	34	14	7	3	3	1	8	4	52	22
	1975–76	First Division	36	11	2	1	1	1	–		39	13
	1976–77	First Division	20	4	5	3	1	0	–		26	7
	1977–78	First Division	9	3	1	0	1	0	–		11	3
	Total		273	110	45	25	15	2	33	14	366	151
Barnsley	1978–79	Fourth Division	34	12	3	2	2	0	–		39	14
	1979–80	Third Division	13	3	2	1	3	0			18	4
	Total		47	15	5	3	5	0	0	0	57	18
Career total			515	224	66	35	33	13	33	14	647	286

Honours

Leicester City<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

• FA Cup runner-up: 1968–69

Leeds United<ref name="oz">Template:Cite web</ref>

• Football League First Division: 1973–74
• FA Cup: 1971–72; runner-up: 1969–70, 1972–73
• FA Charity Shield: 1969
• Inter-Cities Fairs Cup: 1970–71
• European Cup runner-up: 1974–75

Individual

• PFA Team of the Year: 1973–74 First Division<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

• 'Very honoured for my mum & dad – Clarke'. BBC Sounds, October 2023
• Full Managerial Stats for Leeds United from WAFLL
• Template:Soccerbase manager (Template:Webarchive)