Player Profile

After a loan deal to bring Clarke to the County Ground was reported to have been abandoned due to the striker's wage demands, Clarke was spotted speaking to Town boss Paolo di Canio after Swindon had been beaten at Dagenham and Redbridge. Though di Canio was desperate to sign a big targetman, with Queens Park Rangers in the middle of a takeover deal, progress was slow - that was until the following Friday, when, after their takeover was completed, it was announced that Clarke's contract at Loftus Road had been cancelled by mutual consent - within hours, he was confirmed as a Swindon player, signing a two year contract. The signing came in time for Clarke to make his debut two days later - and he was thrust straight into the team for the local derby against Oxford - and though he provided the physical presence up front that di Canio was after, the Town slipped to a 2-1 defeat.

Nine days later, Clarke was to make his final appearance for the club. After starting in a Carling Cup victory at Bristol City and a defeat at Shrewsbury - both games in which Clarke was substituted due to a lack of match fitness - Clarke played the full ninety minutes as Southampton knocked the Town out of the Carling Cup in the Second Round - but as he left the pitch, the new Town striker was seen arguing with fitness coach Claudio Donatelli. As di Canio approached him with a consolatory arm, Clarke pushed the Town boss away as he continued to protest about the training regime - when the pair eventually got into the tunnel, television cameras captured pictures of an altercation in which it appeared that punches were thrown. Clarke made his way back onto the pitch, where he spent fifteen minutes talking to chairman Jeremy Wray before leaving the ground in full kit. After the chairman backed his manager, and TV footage proved di Canio's side of the argument, the Town boss was quick to state that Clarke had played his last game for Swindon - revealing that the striker had told his agent that he had wanted to leave two days before the game, and though he had seen Clarke's bad attitude first hand since he had signed, he had looked past it in an attempt to integrate him into the squad.

Almost as soon as the loan transfer window was opened, Clarke agreed a 93-day spell at League One Chesterfield, before releasing a statement to the press apologising to Swindon's fans, players and directors, but denying di Canio's version of the events. Clarke scored nine goals in fourteen league games with the relegation-threatened Spierites, attracting the interest of promotion chasing Charlton, for whom he signed in January in a player-exchange that saw Paul Benson move to the County Ground. Incredibly, his stay at The Valley didn't last long either - making just seven appearances before moving on again for a loan spell at Crawley.

Playing Record

Senior

Career details

Club	Details
Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolves	(youth) March 5th, 2004 (signed professional contract); transferred out (January 16th, 2007)
Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers	March 25th, 2004 (loan)
Queens Park Rangers Q.P.R.	January 31st, 2006 (loan)
Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle	March 23rd, 2006 (loan)
Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday	January 16th, 2007 (transferred in, undisclosed fee thought to be around £300,000); released (rptd May 5th, 2010)
Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic	March 1st, 2007 (loan); expired (March 31st, 2007)
Southend United Southend United	August 31st, 2007 (loan)
Queens Park Rangers Q.P.R.	July 1st, 2010 (announced May 21st, 2010) (unattached); released (August 19th, 2011)
Preston North End Preston North End	January 28th, 2011 (loan); expired (2010/1)
Swindon Town Swindon	August 19th, 2011 (unattached); transferred out (January 1st, 2012)
Chesterfield Chesterfield	September 8th, 2011 (loan); expired (December 9th, 2011)
Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic	January 1st, 2012 (transferred in, exchange exchange deal with Paul Benson); released (rptd January 7th, 2013)
Crawley Town Crawley Town	March 17th, 2012 (loan); expired (2011/2)
Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United	September 8th, 2012 (loan)
Coventry City Coventry City	January 1st, 2013 (loan)
Coventry City Coventry City	rptd January 7th, 2013 (unattached); transferred out (January 30th, 2014)
Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolves	January 30th, 2014 (transferred in, undisclosed fee reported as £750,000); released (rptd May 7th, 2015)
Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic	February 2nd, 2015 (loan); expired (2014/5)
Bury Bury	July 1st, 2015 (announced June 2nd, 2015) (unattached); transferred out (July 27th, 2016)
Sheffield United Sheffield United	July 27th, 2016 (transferred in, undisclosed fee); transferred out (rptd September 25th, 2020)
Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic	January 30th, 2019 (loan); expired (2019/0)
Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town	September 25th, 2020 (transferred in); released (rptd May 12th, 2021)
Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers	August 31st, 2021 (unattached); released (rptd May 19th, 2022)
Arbroath Arbroath	rptd January 17th, 2023 (trial)
Hartlepool United Hartlepool United	February 14th, 2023 (unattached); released (rptd May 13th, 2023)
Rushall Olympic Rushall	rptd March 17th, 2023 (loan); expired ()
Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers	September 2023 (academy coach)
Kettering Town Kettering Town	rptd September 29th, 2023 (unattached); released (rptd November 27th, 2023)
Mickleover Mickleover	rptd December 1st, 2023 (unattached); retired (rptd May 16th, 2024)
Birmingham City Birmingham	(academy coach)