Ben Clark (footballer, born 1983)

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Ben Clark
Personal information
Full name Benjamin Clark
Date of birth (1983-01-24) 24 January 1983 (age 41)
Place of birth Consett, England[1]
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Position(s) Centre-back
Centre midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Gateshead (Coach)
Youth career
1999 Manchester United
1999–2000 Sunderland
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2000–2004 Sunderland 8 (0)
2004–2010 Hartlepool United 162 (6)
2010–2016 Gateshead 238 (5)
2016 South Shields 4 (0)
Total 409 (11)
Managerial career
2015 Gateshead (caretaker)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Benjamin Clark (born 24 January 1983 in Consett, England) is a former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. During his career, he played for Sunderland, Hartlepool United, Gateshead and latterly South Shields. He is currently employed as a coach and community officer at Gateshead.[2]

Club career

Manchester United

Clark began his career as a trainee for Manchester United, but became homesick and signed for Sunderland in August 1999.

Sunderland

He made his Sunderland debut in a 2–1 Worthington Cup win away to Luton Town in September 2000.[3] However, Clark saw his opportunities at Sunderland limited and he only made 11 appearances in his first three seasons and mainly found himself playing for the reserves. Despite the lack of appearances for his league side, Clark represented England as a defender up until under-20 level and he captained the under-19s.

Mick McCarthy tipped Clark to play an important role in Sunderland's promotion campaign. However, he decided to let Clark look for new clubs to pursue his career. In the 2004–05 season, Clark was signed by Neale Cooper and moved to Hartlepool United.

Hartlepool United

Clark made his Hartlepool debut against Peterborough but a series of injuries disrupted his first season at the club and Clark found it difficult to gain a regular starting place in the team. He was commonly used as a utility player to cover injuries in defence and midfield. Despite this Clark went on to make 25 league appearances and 6 in cup competitions.

In the 06–07 season played a key role as Hartlepool won promotion from League Two alongside Michael Nelson. The pair played a major part in an 18-game unbeaten run. Clark made 35 appearances in the 08/09 season but the arrival of Sam Collins meant that Clark was moved back into midfield. After losing his place in the side Clark spent much of the 09/10 as a substitute and was released at the end of the season.[4]

Gateshead

On 14 June 2010, Clark signed for Conference National side Gateshead[5] and was named captain on 10 August 2010, replacing Kris Gate.[6] Clark made his debut for Gateshead on 14 August 2010 against Kettering Town.[7] Clark scored his first goal for Gateshead on 22 February 2011 in a 4–1 win against Kettering Town at Rockingham Road.[8] He made 53 appearances during his first season at the club, missing only 3 games, and won Gateshead's Player of the Year award.[9]

He agreed a new one-year contract with the club in May 2012 to cover the 2012–13 season.[10]

On 23 November 2015, Clark was named co-caretaker manager of Gateshead alongside Micky Cummins following the departure of manager Malcolm Crosby.[11]

At the beginning of the 2016/17 season, Clark became a dual registered player for both Gateshead and Northern League South Shields. He played four times for the Mariners, and then retired after suffering a groin injury in September 2016.

Career statistics

Club

As of 30 April 2016[12][13][14]
Club Season League[A] FA Cup League Cup Other[B] Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Sunderland 2000–01 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
2001–02 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2002–03 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
2003–04 5 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 8 0
2004–05 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0
Total 8 0 2 0 4 0 0 0 14 0
Hartlepool United 2004–05 25 0 6 0 0 0 1 0 32 0
2005–06 32 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 34 0
2006–07 40 3 3 0 1 0 2 0 46 3
2007–08 19 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 22 1
2008–09 35 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 40 2
2009–10 11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 0
Total 162 6 16 0 1 0 6 0 185 6
Gateshead 2010–11 44 2 2 0 0 0 7 0 53 2
2011–12 40 0 3 0 0 0 5 0 48 0
2012–13 33 1 0 0 0 0 3 1 36 2
2013–14 44 0 3 0 0 0 5 0 52 0
2014–15 33 0 3 0 0 0 5 0 41 0
2015–16 44 2 1 0 0 0 5 0 50 2
Total 238 5 12 0 0 0 30 1 280 6
Career total 408 11 30 0 5 0 36 1 479 12
A. ^ The "League" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) in The Football League and Football Conference.
B. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) in the FA Trophy, Football League Trophy and play-offs.

References

  1. ^ Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2008). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2008–09. Mainstream. ISBN 978-1-84596-324-8.
  2. ^ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37378782
  3. ^ "Luton 1–2 Sunderland (Agg: 1–5)". BBC Sport. 26 September 2000. Retrieved 7 November 2008.
  4. ^ "Clark, Jones, Rowell Leave As Pools Release Seven". Vital Hartlepool. 12 May 2010. Retrieved 14 June 2010.
  5. ^ "Gateshead land Hartlepool United defender". Gateshead F.C. 14 June 2010. Archived from the original on 21 June 2010. Retrieved 14 June 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ "Dowson released / Clark new captain". Gateshead F.C. 10 August 2010. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ "Gateshead 0–0 Kettering Town". Gateshead FC. 15 August 2010. Archived from the original on 5 September 2012. Retrieved 17 August 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ "Kettering Town 1–4 Gateshead". Gateshead FC. 23 February 2011. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 23 February 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ "Gateshead FC 2010/11 Awards". Gateshead FC. 6 May 2011. Archived from the original on 24 September 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2011. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ Bowron, Jeff (10 May 2012). "Ten On Board At Gateshead". BlueSq Premier. Archived from the original on 12 May 2012. Retrieved 10 May 2012. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "Clark and Cummins take caretaker charge". Gateshead FC. 23 November 2015. Archived from the original on 26 November 2015. Retrieved 25 November 2015. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ "Ben Clark Career Stats". Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 October 2010.
  13. ^ "Walsall vs Hartlepool". Hartlepool United FC. 3 May 2008. Archived from the original on 20 May 2008. Retrieved 6 June 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ "B. Clark". Soccerway. Retrieved 29 February 2016.

External links

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