Ian Clarkson

Infobox Football biography
playername = Ian Clarkson


fullname = Ian Stewart Clarkson
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1970|12|4
cityofbirth = Solihull
countryofbirth = England
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
height = height|ft=5|in=10
position = Defender
youthyears = 1987–1988
youthclubs = Birmingham City
years = 1988–1993
1993–1996
1996–1999
1999–2002
2002
2002
2003
2003
clubs = Birmingham City
Stoke City
Northampton Town
Kidderminster Harriers
Nuneaton Borough
Stafford Rangers
Leamington
Forest Green
caps(goals) = 136 0(0)
075 0(0)
094 0(1)
105 0(0)
012 0(0)

manageryears = 2002
managerclubs = Kidderminster Harriers
(player-assistant caretaker manager)

Ian Stewart Clarkson (born December 4, 1970) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender. He made nearly 400 appearances in the Football League.

Playing career

Ian Clarkson was born in Solihull, West Midlands. He began his football career as a YTS trainee with Birmingham City, the club he had supported since childhood,cite web
url=http://www.truegreats.com/player.asp?p=144&c=12 |title=Ian Clarkson |publisher=TrueGreats.com |accessdate=2007-09-18] 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 month later. He signed his first professional contract in December 1988. In 1991 he played in Birmingham's winning side in the Leyland DAF 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, losing 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.cite web
url=http://www.blues.premiumtv.co.uk/page/WhereAreTheyNowDetail/0,,10412~535306,00.html |title=Ian Clarkson |author=Bulman, Andy |year=2004 |publisher=Birmingham City F.C. (registration required) |accessdate=2007-10-15]

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, losing 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 Football 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 only lost 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=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20000806/ai_n14338913 |title=Jan the man hawkish on Harriers |author=Lloyd, Grahame |publisher=The Independent |format=via findarticles.com |date=2000-08-06 |accessdate=2007-10-15] When Jan Molby resigned as manager of Kidderminster in March 2002, Clarkson acted as assistant to caretaker manager Ian Britton. [cite news
url=http://archive.redditchadvertiser.co.uk/2002/4/9/275981.html |title=Clarkson aiming to finish on high note |date=2002-04-09 |publisher=Redditch Advertiser |accessdate=2007-10-15] The club released him at the end of that season for financial reasons. [cite news
url=http://archive.redditchadvertiser.co.uk/2002/6/3/266291.html |title=Britton wields the summer exit axe |publisher=Redditch Advertiser |date=2002-06-03 |accessdate=2007-10-15] 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 |author=Oliver, Pete |publisher=BBC |date=2002-12-09 |accessdate=2007-10-15] He then registered for short periods with Stafford Rangers, [cite news
url=http://archive.worcesternews.co.uk/2002/12/18/234736.html |title=Stafford switch for Clarkson |publisher=Worcester News |date=2002-12-18 |accessdate=2007-10-15]
Leamington [cite web
url=http://www.fgr.laughinggiraffe.co.uk/110303.htm |title=Clarkson signs as cover |date=2003-03-11 |accessdate=2007-10-15 |publisher=ForestGreenRovers.com (an unofficial site)] 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 |date=2003-03-12 |accessdate=2007-10-15] finally retiring at the end of the season.

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 the PFA 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 press release
title=Former soccer star joins Solihull community sport programme |publisher=Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council |date=2006-11-13 |url=http://www.solihull.gov.uk/wwwce/asps/article.asp?id=1642 |accessdate=2007-10-26]

Honours

* with Birmingham City
** Leyland DAF Cup winners 1991.
** Third Division (level 3) promotion 1992.
* with Northampton Town
** Third Division (level 4) promotion 1997.
* with Kidderminster Harriers
** Conference (level 5) champions 2000.

Notes

References

*cite book
author=Matthews, Tony |title=Birmingham City: A Complete Record |year=1995 |publisher=Breedon Books |location=Derby |isbn=1-85983-010-2

External links

* [http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/player1/ianclarkson.htm Playing details] at [http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/ Post War English & Scottish Football League A - Z Player's Database.]
*soccerbase|id=1500|name=Ian Clarkson
* [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.]
* [http://www.harriers-online.co.uk/squad/clarkson.shtml Harriers Online profile]

Persondata
NAME = Clarkson, Ian Stewart
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Professional footballer, journalist
DATE OF BIRTH = 1970-12-04
PLACE OF BIRTH = Solihull, West Midlands, England
DATE OF DEATH =
PLACE OF DEATH =