Leon Clarke
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Leon Marvin Clarke | ||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Queens Park Rangers | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2003–2007 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 74 | (13) |
| 2004 | → Kidderminster Harriers (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 2006 | → Queens Park Rangers (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 2006 | → Plymouth Argyle (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 2007–2010 | Sheffield Wednesday | 83 | (18) |
| 2007 | → Oldham Athletic (loan) | 5 | (3) |
| 2007–2008 | → Southend United (loan) | 16 | (8) |
| 2010– | Queens Park Rangers | 13 | (0) |
| 2011 | → Preston North End (loan) | 6 | (1) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 27 April 2011 | |||
Leon Marvin Clarke (born 10 February 1985) is an English footballer who plays for Queens Park Rangers as a striker.
Career
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Clarke is a product of Wolves' youth academy, where he worked his way up to making his first team debut in a League Cup win over Darlington on 23 September 2003. However, he did not feature at all in the team's Premier League campaign of that season.
After a loan period at Kidderminster Harriers in Spring 2004, he made his breakthrough into the Wolves first team in the 2004–05 season, and made 31 appearances, scoring 8 times.
During the 2005–06 season his fortunes were mixed, as he benefited from injuries to others in the early part of the season, before slipping down the pecking order later in the season, after new players were signed. He went out on loan twice; first to Queens Park Rangers, then to Plymouth Argyle.
He played regularly in the first half of the 2006–07 season but, in January he was transfer-listed when manager Mick McCarthy said he wanted to "freshen up" the strike force.[1]
Sheffield Wednesday
On 15 January 2007, Sheffield Wednesday then manager Brian Laws announced that the Owls had completed the signing of Clarke for an undisclosed fee, thought to be around £300,000 signing a contract until 2009.[2] He wore the number 18 shirt, for the remainder of the 2006–07 season. However, only two months later it was announced that Clarke would be going out on loan to League One promotion chasing side Oldham Athletic without even making a starting appearance for Wednesday.[3] Clarke proceeded to score his first goal for Oldham against League One rivals Doncaster Rovers in a 4–0 victory on 11 March 2007. In total, Clarke played five games and scored three goals for Oldham. After returning to Hillsborough, he was immediately placed in the first team and scored on his first start in a 2–1 victory against Cardiff City.[4] After only one goal and one start in the early stages of the 2007–08 season, he was sent on loan to Southend United until January on the last day of the 2007 Summer Transfer Window. He made a great impression on his debut, scoring one goal and setting up two others in a 3–0 victory against Gillingham.[5][6]
After returning to his parent club Sheffield Wednesday he was restricted to one start and five substitute appearances for the rest of the 2007–08 season, but made three important contributions. This included providing the flick on for Marcus Tudgay to score the second goal of a derby win against Sheffield United on 19 January 2008, scoring the third goal as Sheffield Wednesday beat Leicester City 3–1 in the vital relegation clash between the clubs on 26 April 2008 and following this up with another goal in the Owls' final game of the season, a 4–1 win over Norwich City at Hillsborough on 4 May 2008.
Since he has come back to the Wednesday first team in the 2008–09 season he has scored against Barnsley, and also against Doncaster Rovers in a 1–0 win. Clarke later helped a Wednesday comeback against Norwich with a goal in a 3–2 victory, and then two games later he scored at home against QPR in a 1–0 victory in the 75th minute.
Clarke scored the first of Wednesday's two goals in the end of the season relegation battle against Crystal Palace, which could have seen either team relegated from the Championship on 2 May 2010. However in celebrating the goal, he kicked the advertising boarding, dislocating his toe and forcing the striker to be carried off the pitch and subsequently substituted (his replacement being former Palace player Tom Soares). The game finished 2–2, which saw Wednesday relegated to League One. Three days later it was announced he would not be offered a new contract.[7]
Queens Park Rangers
He signed for Queens Park Rangers on 21 May 2010 on a 2 year contract. Neil Warnock stated "he's worth a gamble." upon the signing of Clarke. After struggling to keep a first-team place at QPR he was loaned to Preston North End on 28 January 2011 until the end of the season.[8] Clarke scored his only goal for Preston on 15 February 2011 against Watford.
References
- ^ "Striker Made Available For Transfer". wolves.co.uk. 2007-01-08. Retrieved 2007-01-08.
- ^ "Owls sign Wolves striker Clarke". bbc.co.uk. 15 January 2007. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
- ^ "Lactics Snare Loan Striker". www.oldhamathletic.co.uk. 1 March 2007. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
- ^ "Cardiff City v Sheff Weds". Sky Sports. 7 April 2007. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
- ^ "Southend sign Clarke and Odhiambo". bbc.co.uk. 31 August 2007. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
- ^ "Southend 3–0 Gillingham". bbc.co.uk. 8 September 2007. Retrieved 2008-02-09.
- ^ "Irvine reveals retained list". swfc.co.uk. 5 May 2010.
- ^ "QPR striker Leon Clarke makes Preston North End switch". BBC. 28 January 2011.
External links
- Leon Clarke at Soccerbase
- Leon Clarke at ESPN FC