Norman Samson Clarke (born 1 April 1942) is a Northern Irish retired footballer, best remembered for his two spells as an outside left in the Irish League with Ballymena United.[1][2] He also served the club as caretaker manager during the 1966–67 season.[3] Clarke's Ballymena United spells were bisected by four years with Football League club Sunderland, where an anterior cruciate ligament injury ended his full-time career.[4]
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Norman Samson Clarke[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 1 April 1942 | ||
| Place of birth | Ballymena, Northern Ireland | ||
| Position(s) | Outside left | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1958–1962 | Ballymena United | ||
| 1962–1966 | Sunderland | 4 | (0) |
| 1966–1969 | Ballymena United | ||
| International career | |||
| 1959–1961 | Northern Ireland Amateurs | 6 | (0) |
| 1960–1961 | Irish League XI | 2 | |
| 1962–1963 | Northern Ireland U23 | 2 | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1966–1967 | Ballymena United (caretaker) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Personal life
editFollowing the end of his second spell with Ballymena United, Clarke returned to Sunderland and worked for an electronics firm.[4] He later moved to London and scouted for Liverpool.[4]
Career statistics
edit| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Sunderland | 1962–63[5] | Second Division | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Career total | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | ||
References
edit- ^ a b "Norman Clarke". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
- ^ "Norman Clarke". nifootball.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
- ^ "Norman Clarke | Manager Statistics | Ballymena United". Ballymena United Archive. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
- ^ a b c Little, Ivan. "NI footie star of Sixties laments what money has done to the beautiful game". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
- ^ "Norman Clarke". Sunderland AFC – Statistics, History and Records – from TheStatCat. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
.svg){kind=small}  | This biographical article relating to Northern Irish association football is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |