Ryan James Clarke (born 30 April 1982) is an English professional

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 ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for club Corsham Town. He previously trained with the England under-18 squad in

La Manga La Manga (), or La Manga del Mar Menor (meaning "The Sandbar of the Minor Sea") is a seaside spit (landform), spit of Mar Menor in the Region of Murcia, Spain. The strip is 21 km long and 100 metres wide (average), separating the Mediterran ...

Career

Bristol Rovers

Born in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, Clarke started his career with

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

; during his time on Rovers' books he had spells on loan at

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team competes in the National League North, the sixth level of the English football league system. Formed in ...

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

and

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Formed in October 188 ...

, where he worked with former

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

wicketkeeper Jack Russell as his goalkeeper coach.

Salisbury City

Clarke joined Salisbury City from Bristol Rovers in August 2006. In the summer of 2008, he broke a metatarsal while on holiday. This setback lead to James Bittner claiming the number one shirt from him, and Clarke was then loaned out to

Northwich Victoria Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers River Weaver, Weaver and River Dane, Dane, east of Chester, south of Warr ...

to reduce the club's wage bill.

Oxford United

Clarke joined

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

on 26 May 2009. He was their regular goalkeeper in the 2009–10 campaign and, despite his scoring an own goal in the 2010 Conference Premier play-off final against

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...

on 16 May, his Oxford side still secured a return to the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

after a four-year exile as 3–1 winners. At the end of the season, Clarke was voted Player of the Year by the Oxford supporters for his feats between the posts. On 12 January 2011, Oxford United announced that Clarke had signed a three-and-a-half-year contract, meaning he would stay at the club until 2014. On 30 January 2014, he signed another three-year deal, keeping him at the club until 2017.

Northampton Town

Clarke signed for League Two club

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

on a two-year contract on 2 July 2015.

AFC Wimbledon and Eastleigh

On 21 June 2016, Clarke joined

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

newcomers

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in ...

on a one-year contract. On 21 September Clarke moved to

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the United Kingdom 2011 census, 2011 census. The town ...

on a two-year deal. In April 2017 Clarke's contract with Eastleigh was terminated with mutual consent.

Torquay United

On 24 June 2017, Clarke signed for

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

club

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

. He was transfer-listed by Torquay at the end of the 2017–18 season.

Hungerford Town

In May 2023, he joined recently relegated Southern Premier Division South club Hungerford Town. He departed the club at the end of the 2024–25 season.

Corsham Town

In May 2025, Clarke agreed to join Hellenic League Premier Division side Corsham Town.

Career statistics

Honours

Salisbury City *

Conference South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 of the NLS and sixth-highest ti ...

play-offs:

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

Oxford United *

Conference Premier The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National Leagues and step 1 of the National Le ...

play-offs:

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Individual *

National League South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National League (English football), National Leagues and step ...

Team of the Year: 2018–19

References

External links

Ryan Clarke profile
at the Eastleigh F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Ryan 1982 births Living people Footballers from Bristol English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Bristol Rovers F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players Salisbury City F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players AFC Wimbledon players Eastleigh F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Bath City F.C. players Hungerford Town F.C. players Corsham Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Southern Football League players 21st-century English sportsmen