Ian Clarkson
Encyclopedia
Ian Stewart Clarkson 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
.
, West Midlands
. He began his football career as a YTS trainee
with Birmingham City
, the club he had supported since childhood, 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. 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 Championship
side Stoke City
in September 1993 for a fee of £40,000. He spent three seasons at Stoke, and played in the Championship
play-offs
, in which Stoke lost to Martin O'Neill
's Leicester City
side in the 1996 semifinal. When his contract expired he rejected Stoke's offer of renewal terms, and left for League Two
side Northampton Town
.
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 League One
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
, then in the Conference
, 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.
When Jan Molby resigned as manager of Kidderminster in March 2002, Clarkson acted as assistant to caretaker manager
Ian Britton.
The club released him at the end of that season for financial reasons.
He joined Nuneaton Borough of the Conference, and was released in December again on financial grounds.
He then registered for short periods with Stafford Rangers
,
Leamington
and, from March 2003, Forest Green Rovers
,
finally retiring at the end of the season.
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
.
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
playing as a defender
Defender (association football)
Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....
for Birmingham City
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...
, Stoke City
Stoke City F.C.
Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...
, Northampton Town
Northampton Town F.C.
Northampton Town Football Club are an English professional football club based in Northampton, Northamptonshire. They currently play in Football League Two, the lowest league division, after being relegated from League One on the last day of the 2008–09 season...
and Kidderminster Harriers
Kidderminster Harriers F.C.
Kidderminster Harriers F.C. are an English football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire formed in 1886 They currently play in the Conference National and have played at Aggborough Stadium since they were formed...
.
Playing career
Ian Clarkson was born in SolihullSolihull
Solihull is a town in the West Midlands of England with a population of 94,753. It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is located 9 miles southeast of Birmingham city centre...
, West Midlands
West Midlands (county)
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England with a 2009 estimated population of 2,638,700. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972, formed from parts of Staffordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire. The...
. He began his football career as a YTS trainee
Youth Training Scheme
The Youth Training Scheme was the former name in the United Kingdom of an on-the-job training course for school leavers aged 16 and 17, managed by the Manpower Services Commission...
with Birmingham City
Birmingham City F.C.
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...
, the club he had supported since childhood, in 1987. He made his first team debut as a 17-year-old in the League Cup
Football League Cup
The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup or, from current sponsorship, the Carling Cup, is an English association football competition. Like the FA Cup, it is played on a knockout basis...
against Aston Villa
Aston Villa F.C.
Aston Villa Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Witton, Birmingham. The club was founded in 1874 and have played at their current home ground, Villa Park, since 1897. Aston Villa were founder members of The Football League in 1888. They were also founder...
in September 1988, and his Football League debut a few days later. He signed his first professional contract in December 1988. In 1991 he played in Birmingham's winning side in the Associate Members Cup
Football League Trophy
The Football League Trophy, currently known as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football knock-out competition open to the 48 clubs in Football League One and Football League Two, the bottom two divisions in the four fully professional top...
final at Wembley. The following season he captained the side to promotion from the Third Division
Football League Third Division
The Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...
while still only 21, an achievement which he considers to be the highlight of his career.
Former Birmingham manager Lou Macari
Lou Macari
Luigi "Lou" Macari is a Scottish former footballer and football manager of Italian descent.-Playing career:...
brought Clarkson to Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...
side Stoke City
Stoke City F.C.
Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded in 1863, it is the oldest club in the Premier League, and considered to be the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts...
in September 1993 for a fee of £40,000. He spent three seasons at Stoke, and played in the Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...
play-offs
Football League Championship play-offs
The Football League Championship play-offs are a series of playoff matches contested by the teams finishing from 3rd to 6th in the Football League Championship table. The semi-finals are played over two legs, with 6th playing 3rd and 5th playing 4th, with the return fixtures following...
, in which Stoke lost to Martin O'Neill
Martin O'Neill
Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, OBE, is a Northern Irish football manager and former player.Until resigning the post on 9 August 2010, he was manager of Aston Villa. Starting his career in his native Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his playing career with Nottingham...
's Leicester City
Leicester City F.C.
Leicester City Football Club , also known as The Foxes, is an English professional football club based at the King Power Stadium in Leicester...
side in the 1996 semifinal. When his contract expired he rejected Stoke's offer of renewal terms, and left for League Two
Football League Two
Football League Two is the third-highest division of The Football League and fourth-highest division overall in the English football league system....
side Northampton Town
Northampton Town F.C.
Northampton Town Football Club are an English professional football club based in Northampton, Northamptonshire. They currently play in Football League Two, the lowest league division, after being relegated from League One on the last day of the 2008–09 season...
.
At Northampton, he linked up with former Birmingham City teammates John Gayle
John Gayle (footballer)
John Gayle is an English former professional footballer, who played as a striker. He is most recently manager of defunct Devon County Football League side Newton Abbot.-Career:...
, Dean Peer
Dean Peer
Dean Peer is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder for a variety of Midlands clubs...
and manager Ian Atkins
Ian Atkins
Ian Leslie Atkins is a former English professional footballer who became a manager later in his career, and now works as a coach with Sunderland. During a 20-year playing career he had eight clubs, including two spells with Sunderland and Birmingham City and playing more than 200 games with his...
, soon to be joined by John Frain
John Frain
John William Frain is a former English professional footballer who played for Birmingham City and Northampton Town. He played in all four divisions of the Football League, making nearly 500 league appearances for his two clubs....
. In his first season he helped them to promotion via the play-offs, and the next year played in the League One
Football League One
Football League One is the second-highest division of The Football League and third-highest division overall in the English football league system....
play-off final, but lost 1–0 to Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town F.C.
Grimsby Town Football Club is an English football club based in the seaside town of Cleethorpes, in North East Lincolnshire, England, who compete in the Conference National. They were formed in 1878 as Grimsby Pelham and later became Grimsby Town...
. In August 1998, he suffered a badly-broken tibia
Tibia
The tibia , shinbone, or shankbone is the larger and stronger of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates , and connects the knee with the ankle bones....
in a match against Lincoln City
Lincoln City F.C.
Lincoln City Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire. The club are currently members of the Conference National in 2011–12 following relegation from the Football League....
. Though he made a couple of appearances for Northampton at the start of the 1999–2000
1999-2000 in English football
-Premier League:Manchester United were crowned FA Premier League champions with an 18-point margin over runners-up Arsenal and with just 3 league defeats all season. This was despite their failure to retain the European Cup and withdrawal from the FA Cup in order to compete in the FIFA Club World...
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
Kidderminster Harriers F.C.
Kidderminster Harriers F.C. are an English football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire formed in 1886 They currently play in the Conference National and have played at Aggborough Stadium since they were formed...
, then in the Conference
Conference National
Conference National is the top division of the Football Conference in England. It is the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system...
, 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.
When Jan Molby resigned as manager of Kidderminster in March 2002, Clarkson acted as assistant to caretaker manager
Caretaker manager
In association football, a caretaker manager is someone who takes temporary charge of the management of a football club, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caretaker may also be appointed if the regular manager is ill or unable to attend to his...
Ian Britton.
The club released him at the end of that season for financial reasons.
He joined Nuneaton Borough of the Conference, and was released in December again on financial grounds.
He then registered for short periods with Stafford Rangers
Stafford Rangers F.C.
Stafford Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional English football team from Stafford which plays in the Northern Premier League Premier Division.The team wear black and white stripes with black shorts...
,
Leamington
Leamington F.C.
Leamington Football Club is the main football club in Whitnash, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England, currently playing in the Southern Football League Premier Division....
and, from March 2003, Forest Green Rovers
Forest Green Rovers F.C.
Forest Green Rovers Football Club is an English football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, currently the longest-serving members of the Conference National. The club is affiliated to the Gloucestershire County FA.-Early years:...
,
finally retiring at the end of the season.
Life after football
Clarkson qualified as a coachCoach (sport)
In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...
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
Birmingham Post
The Birmingham Post newspaper was originally published under the name Daily Post in Birmingham, England, in 1857 by John Frederick Feeney. It was the largest selling broadsheet in the West Midlands, though it faced little if any competition in this category. It changed to tabloid size in 2008...
and Sunday Mercury
Sunday Mercury
Sunday Mercury is a Sunday tabloid published in Birmingham, UK, and owned by Trinity Mirror.The first editor was John Turner Fearon , who left the Dublin-based Freeman's Journal to take up the position...
newspapers and by the Professional Footballers' Association
Professional Footballers' Association
The Professional Footballers' Association is the trade union for professional footballers in England and Wales. The world's oldest professional sport trade union, it has 4,000 members....
(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
Metropolitan Borough of Solihull
The Metropolitan Borough of Solihull is a metropolitan borough of the West Midlands, in west-central England. It is named after its largest town, Solihull, from which Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council is based. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of five boroughs or unitary...
.
Honours
- with Birmingham City
- Associate Members CupFootball League TrophyThe Football League Trophy, currently known as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football knock-out competition open to the 48 clubs in Football League One and Football League Two, the bottom two divisions in the four fully professional top...
winners 1991 - Third DivisionFootball League Third DivisionThe Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...
(level 3) promotion 1992
- Associate Members Cup
- with Northampton Town
- Division ThreeFootball League Third DivisionThe Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...
(level 4) promotion 1997
- Division Three
- with Kidderminster Harriers
- ConferenceConference NationalConference National is the top division of the Football Conference in England. It is the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system...
(level 5) champions 2000
- Conference
External links
- Playing details at Post War English & Scottish Football League A - Z Player's Database
- Guardian article on Clarkson's change of career
- Birmingham Post article by Clarkson on how sport can make a difference