David Philip Clarke (born 11 September 1970) is an English former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

, whose career spanned 17 years from 1995 to 2012, for the England and Great Britain blind football team."David Clarke v Wayne Rooney"
Channel Four Paralympics. He is currently the

Chief Executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of Paralympics GB. He attended

New College Worcester New College Worcester (or NCW; formerly RNIB New College) is an independent boarding and day school for students, aged 11–19, who are blind or partially sighted. It caters for around 80 students. It is located in the city of Worcester, Engl ...

, a school for the blind and visually impaired.

Sports career

Clarke made 144 international appearances scoring 128 goals. He was part of the British team which finished fifth in the 5-a-side at the 2008 Summer Paralympics. and he was selected as the

Stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

torch bearer ''The Torch Bearer'' is a 1916 American silent drama film directed by William Russell and Jack Prescott. The film stars Charlotte Burton. Cast * Charlotte Burton as Janet Dare * Harry Keenan as William Wendell * Marie Van Tassell as Mrs. ...

for the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Sum ...

, where he was the first person to receive the torch in the Stadium, and passed it to the final torch bearer.Olympic Broadcasting Service, channel IPC1, Paralympics International Feed, "2012 Summer Paralympics Opening Ceremonies", airdate 29 August 2012. He was a member of the 2012 Summer Paralympic blind-five-a-side Team GB football team. The following year he was guest of honour at the

2013 FA Cup Final The 2013 FA Cup final was an association football match between Manchester City F.C., Manchester City and Wigan Athletic F.C., Wigan Athletic on 11 May 2013 at Wembley Stadium in London, England, organised by the Football Association (FA). It m ...

between

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

and

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

and handed the trophy over to his hometown team Wigan Athletic. He was inducted into the

English Football Hall of Fame The English Football Hall of Fame is housed at the National Football Museum in Manchester, England. The Hall aims to celebrate and highlight the achievements of the all-time top English footballing talents, as well as non-English players and man ...

in September 2013. Clarke received a lifetime achievement award at the FA England football awards in February 2013 and received an honorary doctorate from the

University of Hertfordshire The University of Hertfordshire (UH) is a Universities in the United Kingdom, university in Hertfordshire, United Kingdom. The university is based largely in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, Hertfordshire. Its antecedent institution, Hatfield ...

in November 2013. Clarke was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the

2023 Birthday Honours The 2023 King's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of King Charles III to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part ...

for services to Paralympic sport.

References

1970 births Living people English men's footballers English Football Hall of Fame inductees Paralympic 5-a-side footballers for Great Britain 5-a-side footballers at the 2008 Summer Paralympics 5-a-side footballers at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Men's association football players not categorized by position Place of birth missing (living people) English blind people Officers of the Order of the British Empire {{England-footy-bio-stub