Steve Clarke

Stephen Clarke (born 29 August 1963) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who is the manager of the Scotland national team.

Clarke played for St Mirren, Chelsea and the Scotland national team, winning three major trophies with Chelsea towards the end of his career.

After retiring as a player, he moved into coaching and worked at Newcastle United, Chelsea, West Ham United and Liverpool.

Clarke has since managed West Bromwich Albion and Reading.

Clarke was transferred to Chelsea for £422,000 in January 1987.

His debut was a 2–0 friendly win over Hungary at Hampden Park on 9 September 1987, and his final game was a 3–1 friendly loss away to the Netherlands in Utrecht six years later on 27 May 1994; he was not selected in the squad for any of the four major tournaments for which Scotland qualified in that era.

He was a part of the Chelsea sides which won the 1997 FA Cup Final, 1998 Football League Cup Final and 1998 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final.

The latter match, against VfB Stuttgart in Stockholm, was Clarke's final appearance for the club.

He stayed at Chelsea until 1998, making 421 appearances.

In 1998, Clarke joined Newcastle United as assistant manager to Ruud Gullit, his former manager at Chelsea.

Clarke was part of the coaching team with Gullit, which helped Newcastle reach the 1999 FA Cup Final on 22 May 1999, where Newcastle finished runners up to Manchester United.

Clarke was caretaker manager following Gullit's resignation, taking charge of one match, a 5–1 defeat against Manchester United.

For that match, Clarke reinstated Alan Shearer and Rob Lee to the team.

Clarke then remained at the club for a period under Bobby Robson.

After a stint in charge of the youth teams at Chelsea, Clarke was promoted to the position of assistant manager when José Mourinho was appointed manager in the summer of 2004.

Clarke was a part of the coaching set-up which saw Chelsea win two FA Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups over three seasons under Mourinho.

In 2005, he was voted into Chelsea's centenary XI, occupying the right-back berth.

During this period, Clarke completed his UEFA Pro Licence in 2006.

When Mourinho left Chelsea in September 2007, Clarke's services were retained by Avram Grant, although Henk ten Cate was brought in as another assistant coach.

Both Grant and ten Cate left the club at the end of the 2007–08 season.

BBC Sport and The Times both reported then that although Clarke remained on the Chelsea coaching staff, he would be looking to pursue opportunities to become a manager in his own right.

Chelsea assured Clarke of his status, citing his loyalty, popularity amongst the club's supporters and work in the aftermath of Mourinho's departure.

On 12 September 2008, Clarke handed in his resignation to Chelsea, hoping to move to West Ham United to be assistant to former Chelsea teammate Gianfranco Zola.

Chelsea initially rejected his resignation, demanding compensation worth two years of Clarke's salary.

After a deal was agreed between the clubs, Clarke became West Ham's first-team coach on 15 September.

West Ham finished ninth in the Premier League in the 2008–09 season, earning Clarke and Zola extended contracts that made Clarke the highest paid assistant manager in the league.

The club struggled during the next season, however, narrowly avoiding relegation.

In June 2010, not long after the dismissal of Zola as manager, Clarke left the club by mutual consent.

On 10 January 2011, Clarke was appointed first-team coach at Liverpool by Kenny Dalglish, after Dalglish had replaced the dismissed Roy Hodgson two days before.

Clarke was credited (alongside Dalglish) for turning Liverpool's season around, having a points average of around two points per match from his arrival, coupled with an improved defensive record.

On 12 May 2011, Clarke, as well as manager Dalglish, signed a three-year contract to remain in his current role as first team coach.

After a spell coaching at Aston Villa, Clarke was appointed Kilmarnock manager in October 2017 and led them to a European place with a club record points total in his only full season in charge.

In May 2019, he was appointed manager of the Scotland national team.

Speaking in February 2019, Clarke said he was thankful that Chelsea had signed him as it meant that he and his family no longer had to live with religious sectarianism in the west of Scotland.

Clarke made six appearances for the Scotland national team.

He led the team to qualifications for UEFA Euro 2020, their first major tournament for 23 years, and UEFA Euro 2024.

Clarke was born in Saltcoats in Ayrshire.

His older brother Paul was a footballer, who played in more than 350 games for Kilmarnock.

Spotted while playing for Beith Juniors, Steve began his professional career with St Mirren.

Clarke was initially on a part-time contract with St Mirren, while he completed an apprenticeship as an instrument engineer.