Sean James Kweku Clare (born 18 September 1996) 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 defender or

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for club

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

. He has previously played for

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

, Heart of Midlothian,

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 ...

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

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 had loan spells at Bury,

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

, Gillingham and Burton Albion.

Club career

Sheffield Wednesday

In February 2016, after leaving the Nike Academy, Clare signed a contract with

until 2017. He scored his first goal for Wednesday in a 4–2 defeat to

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

on 24 February 2018.

Bury (loan)

In March 2016 he signed for Bury on loan, making his professional debut on 5 March against

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

Accrington Stanley (loan)

On 20 January 2017 he signed a loan until the end of the season with

. Accrington manager John Coleman stated he was happy to add another attacking option to the squad with the signing of Clare. His first appearance for Accrington was part of a 1–1 draw against

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

Gillingham (loan)

On 31 August 2017, he signed for Gillingham on loan until 3 January. He scored his first league goal for the club in his second appearance, against

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 12 September 2017. In January 2018 Clare was recalled from his loan spell back to Sheffield Wednesday making his first senior debut in a 0–0 draw against city rivals

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

Heart of Midlothian

Clare signed a three-year contract with

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

club Heart of Midlothian in September 2018. Clare featured for Hearts in the 2019 Scottish Cup Final, which they lost 1–2 to

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

Oxford United

On 6 August 2020, Clare signed for League One club

, for an undisclosed fee, on a three-year deal.

Burton Albion (loan)

On 12 January 2021, Clare joined League One side Burton Albion on loan for the remainder of the 2020–21 season. He scored his first goal for Burton in a 2–1 defeat to

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

on 23 March 2021.

Charlton Athletic

On 20 July 2021, Clare joined League One side

on a two-year deal for an undisclosed fee. On 13 May 2023, it was announced that Clare would leave the club when his contract expired in June.

Wigan Athletic

On 11 July 2023, Clare joined

on a three-year deal.

Leyton Orient

On 21 July 2024, Clare signed for fellow League One side

on a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee.

Personal life

Born in England, Clare is of Irish and Ghanaian descent.

Career statistics

Media work

In June 2020, Clare appeared in a special podcast panel discussing his experiences of racism in football with ''

A View from the Terrace ''A View from the Terrace'' is a Scottish football magazine and factual television television series. It is broadcast on BBC Scotland and repeated on BBC One in Scotland. The show is produced by creative agency Studio Something and is adapted ...

'' host

Craig Fowler Craig Fowler is a Scottish television presenter and podcaster. He is a panelist on Scottish association football, football magazine and factual television television series A View from the Terrace. Career Fowler founded Scottish football podca ...

Honours

Heart of Midlothian *