Nathan Clarke (soccer player)

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Nathan Clarke
Personnel
birthday November 30, 1983
place of birth Halifax ,  England
size 185 cm
position defense
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
2001– Huddersfield Town 263 (8)
1 Only league games are given.
As of July 1, 2010

Nathan Clarke (born November 30, 1983 in Halifax ) is an English football player . His younger brother Tom is also a professional soccer player.

Career

The defender started his active career in the youth academy at Huddersfield Town . After signing his first professional contract in August 2001, Clarke made his debut on September 8th in the away game at Stoke City for the Terriers . A week later, the defender scored his first goal in the home game against Blackpool FC . In the 18th minute he scored the 1-0 opening goal for Huddersfield, but the game ended in a 2-4 defeat. Brett Ormerod scored three goals for Blackpool. In his debut season, he mostly formed the center-back duo with Gareth Evans . At the end of the 2001/02 season he reached sixth place with the club in the Football League Second Division and thus qualified for the play-offs. After the home game against Brentford FC ended goalless, the team lost 2-1 in the second leg and missed the possible promotion.

Clarke missed the start of the following season due to a knee injury and had to undergo surgery. In November 2002, he made his comeback in a friendly against Newcastle United when he played the full game. After he had only completed three games for Huddersfield Town by the end of the season, the defender succeeded again in the 2003/04 season, making the leap into the starting eleven. Together with David Mirfin , Anthony Lloyd and Efetobore Sodje he formed the back four of the Terriers . Head coach Peter Jackson then tried to persuade Clarke to renew his expiring contract, which he finally extended in December 2003 to the end of June 2005. With the club, which has now been relegated to the fourth-rate Football League Third Division , he established himself in the top ranks during the season. On December 13, 2003 he was sent off in the away game at Macclesfield Town after a foul of the field, the game ended in a 4-0 win for Macclesfield.

At the end of the season, the team finally secured promotion to the next higher division. By reaching ninth place in the 2004/05 season, Clarke just missed the team's entry into the play-offs. The following year qualified for the play-offs, in which Huddersfield Town met FC Barnsley in the semifinals and were narrowly defeated in two games. After the promotion to the Football League Championship was missed, the team placed in the 2006/07 season instead on a secured midfield rank. In the following season Clarke counted together with Malvin Kamara , Frank Sinclair , Joe Skarz and Robbie Williams to the top performers of the defense in the Terriers . The two following years ended with placements in the upper half of the table, but it was not enough for participation in the play-offs.

In February 2009, Clarke agreed with the club on an early contract extension and signed a fixed-term contract until the end of June 2012. Previously, he managed to complete all games under the three months previously newly signed head coach Lee Clarke since he took office. In the 2009/10 season, the defensive line was reinforced with Lee Peltier and Peter Clarke , who subsequently ousted Nathan Clarke from the starting eleven. At the end of the season, they made it into the play-offs, in which the team lost two games against Millwall FC . In July 2010, the defender suffered an injury that put him out of action for around ten weeks.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Huddersfield 2-4 Blackpool (BBC Sport)
  2. ↑ Huddersfield 0-0 Brentford (BBC Sport)
  3. ↑ Brentford to face Stoke (BBC Sport)
  4. ↑ a b Clarke on comeback trail (BBC Sport)
  5. ↑ Clarke commits to Huddersfield (BBC Sport)
  6. ↑ Macclesfield 4–0 Huddersfield (BBC Sport)
  7. ↑ Hudd'field 1–3 Barnsley (agg 2–3) (BBC Sport)
  8. ↑ Clarke pens new Terriers contract (BBC Sport)
  9. ↑ Millwall 2–0 Huddersfield (agg 2–0) (BBC Sport)
  10. ↑ Huddersfield Town's Nathan Clarke is out for ten weeks (BBC Sport)
personal data
SURNAME Clarke, Nathan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH November 30, 1983
PLACE OF BIRTH Halifax