John Clark (footballer, born 1964)
John Brown Clark (born 22 September 1964) is a Scottish former footballer. He is best known for his achievements in a lengthy playing career with Dundee United. He top scored for them in the run to the 1987 UEFA Cup Final in which he scored in the defeat in the final. Among his four goals in that run was one against FC Barcelona at Camp Nou in the quarter-final.[2][3]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | John Brown Clark[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 22 September 1964[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Edinburgh, Scotland[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1976–1982 | Dundee United | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1982–1994 | Dundee United | 242 | (19) |
| 1994 | Stoke City | 17 | (0) |
| 1994–1996 | Falkirk | 48 | (10) |
| 1996–1997 | Dunfermline Athletic | 19 | (2) |
| 1996 | Ross County | 1 | (1) |
| 1996 | Ayr United | 1 | (0) |
| 1997–1999 | Berwick Rangers | 26 | (2) |
| Total | 354 | (34) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2001–2004 | Gala Fairydean | ||
| 2004–2005 | Whitehill Welfare | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
He also played for Stoke City, Falkirk, Dunfermline Athletic, Ross County, Ayr United and Berwick Rangers.
Career edit
Dundee United edit
Clark was born in Edinburgh and joined Dundee United in 1976 and began to play for the reserves as a forward where he scored over 100 goals.[3] He made his debut in the 1982–83.
His best season was 1986–87 where he featured prominently at centre half. He was their top scorer on the way to the 1987 UEFA Cup Final with a goal against each of Universitatea Craiova, Hajduk Split and FC Barcelona at the Camp Nou. He also scored in the second leg of the final at Tannadice Park as United lost 2–1 to IFK Göteborg.[3][4][5]
That same season United also lost the 1987 Scottish Cup Final to St Mirren as they also did the season after to Celtic. Clark remained a regular in the Tannadice defence for the late 1980s and early 1990s making 330 appearances scoring 37 goals.
Stoke City edit
He moved to English club Stoke City in January 1994.[3] Clark started his Stoke against Barnsley in a 3–0 defeat.[2] He ended the 1993–94 season with 12 appearances.[2] In 1994–95 Clark played in six matches and scored his only goal for Stoke which came in a 2–0 victory over Cesena in the Anglo-Italian Cup.[2] When Lou Macari replaced Joe Jordan as manager in September 1994 Clark returned to Scotland.
Later career edit
Clark next joined Falkirk before transferring part way through his second season to Dunfermline. He had short spells also playing for Ayr United, Ross County and Berwick Rangers. He became Assistant Manager at Berwick.
Clark then dropped out of senior football with Gala Fairydean where he became player-manager. He became manager of Whitehill Welfare in 2004.
Career statistics edit
- Sourced from John Clark at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other[A] | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Dundee United | 1982–83 | Scottish Premier Division | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 1983–84 | Scottish Premier Division | 10 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 1 | |
| 1984–85 | Scottish Premier Division | 10 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 6 | |
| 1985–86 | Scottish Premier Division | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 1 | |
| 1986–87 | Scottish Premier Division | 30 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 4 | 47 | 7 | |
| 1987–88 | Scottish Premier Division | 28 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 39 | 5 | |
| 1988–89 | Scottish Premier Division | 20 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 30 | 2 | |
| 1989–90 | Scottish Premier Division | 29 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 38 | 4 | |
| 1990–91 | Scottish Premier Division | 18 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 4 | |
| 1991–92 | Scottish Premier Division | 34 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 2 | |
| 1992–93 | Scottish Premier Division | 37 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 2 | |
| 1993–94 | Scottish Premier Division | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 19 | 3 | |
| Total | 242 | 19 | 36 | 3 | 23 | 6 | 29 | 9 | 330 | 37 | ||
| Stoke City | 1993–94 | First Division | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| 1994–95 | First Division | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | |
| Total | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 1 | ||
| Career Total | 259 | 19 | 36 | 3 | 23 | 6 | 30 | 10 | 348 | 38 | ||
- A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Anglo-Italian Cup and UEFA Cup.
Honours edit
- Dundee United
References edit
- ^ "John Clark". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 4 March 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f Lowe, Simon (2000). Stoke City The Modern Era – A Complete Record. Desert Island Books. ISBN 1-874287-39-2.
- ^ a b c d "John Clark". Dundee United F.C. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
- ^ Winton, Richard (20 May 2020). "On This Day: Dundee United reach Uefa Cup final in 1987". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
- ^ Strachan, Graeme (20 May 2022). "Dundee United photos found in attic show amazing Uefa Cup final scenes at Tannadice". The Courier. Retrieved 21 May 2022.
External links edit
- John Clark at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database
- John Clark at Soccerbase