 Clarke as manager ofScotland in 2019 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Stephen Clarke[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1963-08-29)29 August 1963 (age 61)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Saltcoats, Scotland | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Right-back[3] | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Scotland (manager) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Beith Juniors | |||
| 1982–1987 | St Mirren | 200 | (7) |
| 1987–1998 | Chelsea | 330 | (7) |
| Total | 530 | (14) | |
| International career | |||
| 1983[4] | Scotland U19 | ||
| 1983–1985[5] | Scotland U21 | 8 | (0) |
| 1987–1990[6] | Scotland B | 2 | (0) |
| 1987–1994 | Scotland | 6 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1999 | Newcastle United (caretaker) | ||
| 2012–2013 | West Bromwich Albion | ||
| 2014–2015 | Reading | ||
| 2017–2019 | Kilmarnock | ||
| 2019– | Scotland | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Stephen Clarke (born 29 August 1963) is a Scottish professionalfootball manager and formerplayer who is the manager of theScotland national team.
Clarke played forSt Mirren,Chelsea and theScotland national team, winning three major trophies with Chelsea towards the end of his career. After retiring as a player, he moved into coaching and worked atNewcastle United, Chelsea,West Ham United andLiverpool. Clarke has since managedWest Bromwich Albion andReading. After a spell coaching atAston Villa, Clarke was appointedKilmarnock manager in October 2017 and led them to aEuropean place with a club record points total in his only full season in charge. In May 2019, he was appointed manager of the Scotland national team.[7] He led the team to qualifications forUEFA Euro 2020, their first major tournament for 23 years,[8] andUEFA Euro 2024.
Clarke was born inSaltcoats inAyrshire.[1] His older brotherPaul was a footballer, who played in more than 350 games forKilmarnock.[9] Spotted while playing forBeith Juniors, Steve began his professional career withSt Mirren.[10] Clarke was initially on a part-time contract with St Mirren, while he completed an apprenticeship as an instrument engineer.[10]
Clarke was transferred toChelsea for £422,000 in January 1987.[11] He stayed at Chelsea until 1998, making 421 appearances.[11] He was a part of the Chelsea sides which won the1997 FA Cup Final,1998 Football League Cup Final and1998 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final. The latter match, againstVfB Stuttgart inStockholm, was Clarke's final appearance for the club.[11] In 2005, he was voted into Chelsea's centenary XI, occupying the right-back berth.
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 withreligious sectarianism in the west of Scotland.[12]
Clarke made six appearances for theScotland national team. His debut was a 2–0 friendly win overHungary atHampden Park on 9 September 1987, and his final game was a 3–1 friendly loss away to theNetherlands inUtrecht six years later on 27 May 1994;[13] he was not selected in the squad for any of the four major tournaments for which Scotland qualified in that era.[14]
In 1998, Clarke joinedNewcastle United as assistant manager toRuud Gullit, his former manager at Chelsea. Clarke was part of the coaching team with Gullit, which helped Newcastle reach the1999 FA Cup Final on 22 May 1999, where Newcastle finished runners up toManchester United.[citation needed]
Clarke was caretaker manager following Gullit's resignation,[15] taking charge of one match, a 5–1 defeat against Manchester United.[16] For that match, Clarke reinstatedAlan Shearer andRob Lee to the team.[16] Clarke then remained at the club for a period underBobby Robson.[17]
After a stint in charge of the youth teams at Chelsea, Clarke was promoted to the position of assistant manager whenJosé Mourinho was appointed manager in the summer of 2004.[18] Clarke was a part of the coaching set-up which saw Chelsea win twoFA Premier League titles, anFA Cup and twoLeague Cups over three seasons under Mourinho. During this period, Clarke completed his UEFA Pro Licence in 2006.[19]
When Mourinho left Chelsea in September 2007, Clarke's services were retained byAvram Grant, althoughHenk ten Cate was brought in as another assistant coach.[20] Both Grant and ten Cate left the club at the end of the 2007–08 season.[20][21]BBC Sport andThe 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.[20][21] Chelsea assured Clarke of his status, citing his loyalty, popularity amongst the club's supporters and work in the aftermath of Mourinho's departure.[21]
On 12 September 2008, Clarke handed in his resignation to Chelsea, hoping to move toWest Ham United to be assistant to former Chelsea teammateGianfranco Zola.[18][22] Chelsea initially rejected his resignation, demanding compensation worth two years of Clarke's salary.[18] After a deal was agreed between the clubs, Clarke became West Ham's first-team coach on 15 September.[23]
West Ham finished ninth in the Premier League in the2008–09 season,[24] earning Clarke and Zola extended contracts that made Clarke the highest paid assistant manager in the league.[25] The club struggled during the next season, however, narrowly avoiding relegation.[24] In June 2010, not long after the dismissal of Zola as manager,[24] Clarke left the club by mutual consent.[26]
On 10 January 2011, Clarke was appointed first-team coach at Liverpool byKenny Dalglish,[27] after Dalglish had replaced the dismissedRoy Hodgson two days before.[28] Clarke was credited (alongside Dalglish) for turning Liverpool's season around, having a points average of around two points per match from his arrival, coupled with an improved defensive record. On 12 May 2011, Clarke, as well as manager Dalglish, signed a three-year contract to remain in his current role as first team coach.
On 14 May 2012, Clarke offered his resignation to Liverpool following the sacking of manager Dalglish and Liverpool's eighth-place finish in the 2011–12 Premier League. The club declined the offer, but on 6 June 2012, following the appointment of new managerBrendan Rodgers, Clarke left the club.[29] Clarke himself said that Liverpool sacked him.[30]
On 8 June 2012, Clarke was appointed manager ofWest Bromwich Albion and signed a two-year contract. The job was Clarke's first permanent management role for any club, though during his time the club referred to him as "head coach".[31]
Albion began the Clarke era with a 3–0 home win against Liverpool on the opening day of the2012–13 Premier League season. Clarke then followed that result up with a 1–1 away draw againstTottenham Hotspur, and a 2–0 win at home toEverton. Clarke suffered his first competitive defeat away at Fulham, but West Brom soon jumped back with 1–0 home victory overReading. In November, the club won four consecutive matches in a row for the first time since 1980, defeatingSouthampton,Wigan Athletic, Chelsea andSunderland.[32] Clarke was named Premier League manager of the month for November 2012.[33] Although the team would go on to lose their next three matches, Clarke's team would bounce back with a draw at home to West Ham and a 2–1 win overNorwich City. By Christmas 2012, West Brom were seventh in the table with 30 points, behind teams likeArsenal and Spurs only on goal difference. During the January transfer window, Clarke encountered some problems with want-away Nigerian StrikerPeter Odemwingie, who desired a move toQueens Park Rangers, but West Brom refused to sell.[34] Odemwingie was ultimately never sold and was later given time off following the transfer window saga.[35] It was during this January period that the club struggled to emulate their early season form. Following a poor run of results which saw West Brom fail to win in six consecutive games, Clarke oversaw a 2–0 victory against Liverpool atAnfield, the club's first win since Boxing Day against QPR.[36]
West Brom won 3–0 at Southampton on 27 April, which was their 14th win of the season. This set club records for wins (14) and points (48) in a Premier League season.[37] West Brom ended the season in style with a dramatic 5–5 draw with Manchester United, in what wasSir Alex Ferguson's final match as manager.[38] The draw saw West Brom finish 8th in the table, their best finish since 1981.
Clarke and West Brom returned for the new season with a 1–0 home loss to Southampton atThe Hawthorns following a 90th-minuteRickie Lambert penalty.[39] The team initially struggled to score goals, eventually recording their first league goal the fourth game of the new season whenGareth McAuley scored an injury time header in a 1–1 result against Fulham.[39] 28 September 2013 saw them secure an historic 2–1 victory against league champions, Manchester United, their first win atOld Trafford in 35 years.[40] Under his managership, however, they won only one further game, a 2–0 home defeat ofCrystal Palace on 2 November 2013.[39] On 9 November, West Brom were minutes away from securing a historic win atStamford Bridge that would have ended José Mourinho's undefeated home record, but a controversial penalty decision ensured that the game ended 2–2.[41] A further draw and four straight defeats followed and on 14 December 2013 Clarke was placed ongardening leave until May 2014, after a 1–0 loss atCardiff City. This defeat had left the club two points above the relegation zone in 16th place. They had won 9 of the previous 41 Premier League matches.[42]
On 16 December 2014, Clarke was appointed manager of Reading on a two-and-a-half-year deal, succeedingNigel Adkins.[43] On 16 March 2015, Clarke managed Reading to a 3–0 win againstBradford City in theFA Cup to reach their first semi-final for 88 years.[44] In November 2015, Clarke was approached by Fulham to become their manager.[45] Reading gave Clarke permission to speak to Fulham, but following the discussion he decided against taking the position.[45] Clarke was sacked by Reading on 4 December 2015 after one year in charge.[46]
Clarke was hired byAston Villa on 2 June 2016 to be their assistant manager, working alongside former Chelsea teammateRoberto Di Matteo.[47] He was not retained following the appointment ofSteve Bruce in October 2016.[48]
After a year out of football, Clarke was appointed manager ofScottish Premiership clubKilmarnock, the club he had supported as a child,[4] on 14 October 2017.[49] When he took over, the club sat bottom of the league table. His first game as Kilmarnock manager, which was his first involvement at a Scottish club match for 30 years, ended in a 1–1 draw atRangers.[50] Three days later, Clarke's side travelled to reigning championsCeltic and once again gained a 1–1 draw.[51] Following the league's winter break, Kilmarnock recorded a home victory over leaders Celtic, withYoussouf Mulumbu scoring the only goal to inflict what was only the second domestic defeat on theGlasgow club's managerBrendan Rodgers.[52] Kilmarnock finished the season in fifth place, setting a new club record points tally of 59 in the process.[53] Clarke was named theSFWA Manager of the Year for 2017–18.[54]
Clarke continued his impressive work the next season, including another win over Celtic and two over Rangers,[55] culminating in a third-place finish and European qualification for Kilmarnock.[56] He also won both manager of the year awards, fromPFA Scotland[57] and theSFWA.[58] Immediately after the league season ended, Clarke left Kilmarnock to take the national team manager position.[7]
In May 2019, Clarke was appointed manager of theScotland national team on a contract due to run until the end of2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.[7] On his debut on 8 June, the Scots won 2–1 at home toCyprus inUEFA Euro 2020 qualifying.[59] The team then suffered four consecutive defeats againstBelgium andRussia, two of them by 4–0 margins, which ended any hope of qualifying automatically for Euro 2020.[60] On 12 November 2020, Scotland defeatedSerbia 4–5 on penalties after a 1–1 draw to take their place in the delayed finals via theUEFA Nations League route, their first major tournament since 1998.[8] In the tournament Scotland drew withEngland at Wembley,[61] but defeats at Hampden toCzech Republic andCroatia meant that Scotland finished bottom ofGroup D.[62]
Six consecutive wins later that year meant that Scotland finished second inGroup F of2022 FIFA World Cup qualification.[63] This progressed the team into theplay-offs, where they lost 3–1 toUkraine in a semi-final at Hampden.[63] Later that year, Scotland won promotion toLeague A by winning their League B group in the2022–23 competition.[64]
Ahead ofUEFA Euro 2024 qualifying, Clarke signed a new contract with theSFA that is due to run until 2026.[65] Scotland won their first five matches in Euro 2024 qualifying, againstCyprus (twice),Spain,Norway andGeorgia. They achieved qualification for the tournament on 15 October 2023, with two matches to spare.[66]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland[13] | 1987 | 3 | 0 |
| 1988 | 2 | 0 | |
| 1994 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 6 | 0 | |
| Team | From | To | Record | Ref | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Newcastle United (caretaker) | 28 August 1999 | 2 September 1999 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 000.00 | [15][67] |
| West Bromwich Albion | 8 June 2012 | 14 December 2013 | 60 | 19 | 15 | 26 | 031.67 | [31][67][68] |
| Reading | 16 December 2014 | 4 December 2015 | 53 | 19 | 14 | 20 | 035.85 | [67] |
| Kilmarnock | 14 October 2017 | 20 May 2019 | 79 | 40 | 22 | 17 | 050.63 | [49][69] |
| Scotland | 20 May 2019 | Present | 65 | 28 | 15 | 22 | 043.08 | [70][a] |
| Total | 258 | 106 | 66 | 86 | 041.09 | |||
Chelsea
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Scotland
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