Sammy Clingan

Samuel Gary Clingan (born 13 January 1984) is a Northern Irish former international footballer who played as a defensive midfielder.

Clingan began his career in August 2001 as a youth trainee at Wolverhampton Wanderers.

He was captain of the Wolves reserves in 2003–04, but never broke into the first team – although twice being an unused substitute during their Premier League campaign of that year – and was loaned out to Chesterfield on two occasions to gain experience.

Between October 2004 and January 2006, he played 29 times for the Spireites and scored three goals – quickly becoming a fans' favourite.

In early 2006, Nottingham Forest confirmed their interest in him.

The original deal fell through because of the existing loan deal with Chesterfield, but when his loan period ended on 15 January, Forest made a second bid.

Clingan joined Forest on 23 January for an undisclosed fee.

He made his debut in a 2–0 defeat to Barnsley.

Clingan had been a regular in the Forest side in 2006–07 but sustained a broken ankle during a 5–1 victory over Huddersfield Town in early March 2007, sidelining him for the rest of the season.

He returned fit for the next campaign and got his first goal for the Reds after 22 months and 59 games, with a 22-yard free-kick in a 2–0 win over Crewe on 24 November 2007.

The season ended with Forest gaining automatic promotion to the Championship.

Clingan was offered a new deal by the club at the end of the season, with manager Colin Calderwood stating he hoped Clingan would re-sign.

He rejected the offer from Forest amid interest from Championship rivals QPR, Ipswich Town and Norwich City.

On 17 June 2008, he agreed to join Norwich City when his Forest contract expired.

He signed a two-year deal and was Glenn Roeder's first summer signing.

During the 2008–09 season, Clingan became the club's established penalty taker, scoring all four spot-kicks he took.

His other goals were an impressive free-kick in a 1–1 draw away to Birmingham City and a similar effort in the final day 4–2 defeat to Charlton Athletic which sealed the club's relegation to League One.

In March, Clingan was soon appointed as Norwich City's vice captain, following Gary Doherty promotion as captain.

In the January transfer window, Clingan revealed that Premier League side Fulham tried to sign him.

Following Norwich City's relegation, Clingan requested a transfer and was sold to Coventry City.

He proclaimed that he wanted to play in the Premier League and Coventry offered him the best chance of getting there.

Unfortunately for him, Coventry didn't make it to the Premier League.

Two years later, however, Norwich City did secure promotion to the Premier League and Clingan was mercilessly taunted with cries of "Sammy Clingan, it could have been you."

by Norwich City Supporters when the two clubs met on the last day of the championship season.

He later admitted regretting leaving Norwich for Coventry.

After a protracted transfer saga in the summer transfer window, Clingan signed for Coventry City on 24 July 2009, signing a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee.

He was happy to move to a Championship club.

He made his debut, on the opening game of the season, in a 2–1 win over Ipswich Town.

He then scored his first goal, on 19 September 2009, in a 3–2 loss against Preston.

He then scored two goals in two consecutive games against Watford and Leicester City.

Soon after, Clingan suffered a toe injury while in international duty, which left him out for six weeks.

Two months later, on 12 December 2009, Clingan made his return from injury, coming on as a substitute 88th, in a 3–2 win over Peterborough United.

Later in the season, Clingan would score against Barnsley and Scunthorpe United.

Following the last three games since the opening game of the season, Clingan said his first team place is difficult in the starting line-up, under manager Aidy Boothroyd.

Eventually, his first team place would win over Boothyord, which earned him a starting line-up.

He soon suffered a knee injury which left him out for months and made his return in early January.

During the season, Clingan had problem with injuries.

In June 2011, due to the departures of Keiren Westwood, Marlon King and Aron Gunnarson, Sammy Clingan was announced as club captain.

After scoring his first goal of the season against Doncaster on 29 October 2011, Clingan announced his desire to stay at the club and the contract negotiations has started.

Like last season, Clingan had another problem with injuries.