Ian Clarkson
{{Short description|English footballer (born 1970)}}
{{use British English|date=July 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Ian Clarkson
| image =
| caption =
| fullname = Ian Stewart Clarkson
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1970|12|4|df=y}}
| birth_place = Solihull, England
| height =
| position = Defender
| youthyears1 = 1987–1988 | youthclubs1 = Birmingham City
| years1 = 1988–1993 | clubs1 = Birmingham City | caps1 = 136 | goals1 = 0
| years2 = 1993–1996 | clubs2 = Stoke City | caps2 = 75 | goals2 = 0
| years3 = 1996–1999 | clubs3 = Northampton Town | caps3 = 94 | goals3 = 1
| years4 = 1999–2002 | clubs4 = Kidderminster Harriers | caps4 = 105 | goals4 = 0
| years5 = 2002 | clubs5 = Nuneaton Borough | caps5 = 12 | goals5 = 0
| years6 = 2002 | clubs6 = Stafford Rangers | caps6 = | goals6 =
| years7 = 2003 | clubs7 = Leamington | caps7 = | goals7 =
| years8 = 2003 | clubs8 = Forest Green Rovers | caps8 = | goals8 =
| years9 = 2012– | clubs9 = Alvechurch | caps9 = | goals9 =
| totalcaps = 422 | totalgoals = 1
| manageryears1 = 2002 | managerclubs1 = Kidderminster Harriers
(player/assistant caretaker manager)
}}
Ian Stewart Clarkson (born 4 December 1970) is an English former professional footballer who made nearly 400 appearances in the Football League playing as a defender for Birmingham City, Stoke City, Northampton Town and Kidderminster Harriers.{{cite web |url=http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/birmingham/birmingham.html |title=Birmingham City : 1946/47–2008/09 |work=UK A–Z Transfers |publisher=Neil Brown |access-date=3 January 2010}}
Playing career
Ian Clarkson was born in Solihull, West Midlands. He began his football career as a YTS trainee with Birmingham City,{{cite book |last=Matthews |first=Tony |title=Birmingham City: A Complete Record |year=1995 |pages=78–79 |publisher=Breedon Books |location=Derby |isbn=978-1-85983-010-9}} the club he had supported since childhood,{{cite web |url=http://www.truegreats.com/player.asp?p=144&c=12 |title=Ian Clarkson |website=TrueGreats.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060509171112/http://www.truegreats.com/player.asp?p=144&c=12 |archive-date=9 May 2006}} in 1987. He made his first team debut as a 17-year-old in the League Cup against Aston Villa in September 1988, and his Football League debut a few days later.{{cite book |last=Matthews |title=Birmingham City: A Complete Record |page=224}} He signed his first professional contract in December 1988. In 1991, he played in Birmingham's winning side in the Associate Members' Cup final at Wembley. The following season, he captained the side to promotion from the Third Division while still only 21, an achievement which he considers to be the highlight of his career.
Former Birmingham manager Lou Macari brought Clarkson to First Division side Stoke City in September 1993 for a fee of £40,000. He spent three seasons at Stoke, and played in the First Division play-offs, in which Stoke lost to Martin O'Neill's Leicester City side in the 1996 semi-final. When his contract expired he rejected Stoke's offer of renewal terms, and left for Third Division side Northampton Town.{{cite web |url=http://www.blues.premiumtv.co.uk/page/WhereAreTheyNowDetail/0,,10412~535306,00.html |title=Ian Clarkson |first=Andy |last=Bulman |date=2004 |publisher=Birmingham City F.C. |access-date=5 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081015203450/http://www.blues.premiumtv.co.uk/page/WhereAreTheyNowDetail/0,,10412~535306,00.html |archive-date=15 October 2008}}
At Northampton, he linked up with former Birmingham City teammates John Gayle, Dean Peer and manager Ian Atkins, soon to be joined by John Frain. In his first season, he helped them to promotion via the play-offs, and the next year played in the Second Division play-off final, but lost 1–0 to Grimsby Town. In August 1998, he suffered a badly broken tibia in a match against Lincoln City. Though he made a couple of appearances for Northampton at the start of the 1999–2000 season, it appeared that he was no longer fit enough to compete at that level, and that his league career was over at the age of 28.
Clarkson went to train at Kidderminster Harriers, which was then a Conference club, and regained sufficient fitness to be able to play regularly at that level. Kidderminster made him club captain, and of his first 30 games for the club they lost only one; at the end of the season the club were promoted to the Football League as Conference champions. They repaid the insurance payout that Clarkson had received on his retirement due to injury, so that he was able to play for them in the Football League.{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/football-league/jan-the-man-hawkish-on-harriers-696515.html |title=Jan the man hawkish on Harriers |last=Lloyd |first=Grahame |newspaper=The Independent|location=London |date=6 August 2000 |access-date=10 October 2010}} When Jan Molby resigned as manager of Kidderminster in March 2002, Clarkson acted as assistant to caretaker manager Ian Britton.{{cite news |url=https://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/7710390.9402-clarkson-aiming-to-finish-on-high-note/ |title=Clarkson aiming to finish on high note |newspaper=Worcester News |date=9 April 2002 |access-date=21 January 2020}} The club released him at the end of that season for financial reasons.{{cite news |url=https://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/7592181.25402-britton-wields-the-summer-exit-axe/ |title=Britton wields the summer exit axe |newspaper=Redditch Advertiser |date=25 April 2002 |access-date=21 January 2020}} He joined Nuneaton Borough of the Conference, and was released in December again on financial grounds.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/n/nuneaton_borough/2558865.stm |title=Borough looking for January windfall |last=Oliver |first=Pete |publisher=BBC Sport|date=9 December 2002 |access-date=15 October 2007}} He then registered for short periods with Stafford Rangers,{{cite news |url=https://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/7514535.181202-stafford-switch-for-clarkson/ |title=Stafford switch for Clarkson |newspaper=Worcester News |date=18 December 2002 |access-date=21 January 2020}} Leamington{{cite news |url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/FOOTBALL%3A+Clarkson+joins+Brakes.-a097815159 |title=Clarkson joins Brakes |newspaper=Coventry Evening Telegraph |format=reprint |publisher=The Free Library (Farlex) |date=18 February 2003 |access-date=10 October 2010}} and, from March 2003, Forest Green Rovers,{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/f/forest_green_rovers/2845227.stm |title=Addison lands Clarkson |publisher=BBC Sport |date=12 March 2003 |access-date=15 October 2007}} finally retiring at the end of the season.
In 2012, he returned to football to sign for Alvechurch in September 2012 at the age of 41.{{cite news |url=http://www.redditchstandard.co.uk/2012/10/03/sport-Alvechurch-hit-'em-for-six-as-Clarkson-makes-bow-51281.html |title=Alvechurch hit 'em for six as Clarkson makes bow |first=Lian |last=Moakes |newspaper=Redditch Standard |date=27 September 2012 |access-date=29 March 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130421120905/http://www.redditchstandard.co.uk/2012/10/03/sport-Alvechurch-hit-'em-for-six-as-Clarkson-makes-bow-51281.html |archive-date=21 April 2013}}
Life after football
Clarkson qualified as a coach and coach educator, and worked for Birmingham City's Football in the Community programme. During the later years of his playing career he was keen to get involved in media work; from 2002 he was employed as a football reporter and journalist by the Birmingham Post and Sunday Mercury newspapers and by the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA)'s website. In 2006, he was appointed to manage a scheme designed to involve young people in sport and physical activity, as part of a wider programme of regeneration of the deprived areas of North Solihull.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2007/feb/14/childrensservices.guardiansocietysupplement |title=In a different league |last=Arnot |first=Chris |newspaper=The Guardian|location=London |date=14 February 2007 |access-date=5 January 2010}}
Clarkson now works as a PE Teacher at Repton Prep School in Derbyshire, where he has been based since 2010.
Personal life
Clarkson's nephew is the Sheffield United midfielder Callum O'Hare.{{cite news |last1=Fisher |first1=Ben |title=Coventry's Callum O'Hare: 'I was stuck in bed for two months unable to move, it was horrible' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/mar/15/coventry-callum-ohare-fa-cup |access-date=28 April 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=15 March 2024}}
Career statistics
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition{{ENFA}} | ||||||||||
| rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season !colspan="3"|League !colspan="2"|FA Cup !colspan="2"|League Cup !colspan="2"|Other{{efn|Includes Anglo-Italian Cup, Football League Trophy and Football League play-offs}} !colspan="2"|Total | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| rowspan="7"|Birmingham City
|9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | |
| 1989–90
|20 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 26 | 0 | |
| 1990–91
|Third Division |37 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 46 | 0 | |
| 1991–92
|Third Division |42 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 52 | 0 | |
| 1992–93
|28 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 36 | 0 | |
| 1993–94
|First Division |0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| colspan="2"|Total
!136 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 174 | 0 | |
| rowspan="4"|Stoke City
|First Division |14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 0 | |
| 1994–95
|First Division |18 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 25 | 0 | |
| 1995–96
|First Division |43 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 52 | 0 | |
| colspan="2"|Total
!75 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 96 | 0 | |
| rowspan="5"|Northampton Town
|Third Division |45 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 56 | 0 | |
| 1997–98
|Second Division |42 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 53 | 2 | |
| 1998–99
|Second Division |5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
| 1999–2000
|Third Division |2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| colspan="2"|Total
!94 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 119 | 2 | |
| rowspan="4"|Kidderminster Harriers
|28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 0 | |
| 2000–01
|Third Division |38 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 44 | 0 | |
| 2001–02
|Third Division |39 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 42 | 0 | |
| colspan="2"|Total
!105 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 114 | 0 | |
| Nuneaton Borough
|Conference National |12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | |
| -
!colspan="3"|Career total !422!!1!!21!!0!!29!!0!!43!!1!!515!!2 |
{{notelist}}
Honours
Birmingham City
- Football League Trophy : 1991
- Football League Third Division runner-up: 1991–92
Northampton Town
- Football League Third Division play-offs: 1997{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-swansea-run-over-by-frain-1263330.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181027002521/https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-swansea-run-over-by-frain-1263330.html |archive-date=27 October 2018 |title=Football: Swansea run over by Frain |work=The Independent|location=London |first=Norman |last=Fox |date=25 May 1997 |access-date=1 May 2020}}
Kidderminster Harriers
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{NeilBrownPlayers|player1/ianclarkson}}
- {{Soccerbase}}
- [http://society.guardian.co.uk/children/story/0,,2012082,00.html Guardian article] on Clarkson's change of career
- [http://icbirmingham.icnetwork.co.uk/birminghampost/perspective/features/tm_method=full%26objectid=19399880%26siteid=50002-name_page.html Birmingham Post article] by Clarkson on how sport can make a difference
{{Northampton Town F.C. Player of the Year}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarkson, Ian}}
Category:Footballers from Solihull
Category:English men's footballers
Category:Men's association football defenders
Category:Birmingham City F.C. players
Category:Stoke City F.C. players
Category:Northampton Town F.C. players
Category:Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players
Category:Nuneaton Town F.C. players
Category:Stafford Rangers F.C. players
Category:Leamington F.C. players
Category:Forest Green Rovers F.C. players
Category:Alvechurch F.C. players