Leon Clarke

Leon Marvin Clarke (born 10 February 1985 in Wolverhampton) is an England footballer.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Clarke is a product of Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. youth academy, where he worked his way up to making his first team debut in a Football League Cup win over Darlington F.C. on September 23, 2003. However, he did not feature at all in the team's Premier League campaign of that season.

After a loan period at Kidderminster Harriers F.C. in Spring 2004, he made his breakthrough into the Wolves first team in the 2004/05 season, and made 31 appearances, scoring 8 times.

During the 2005/06 season his fortunes were mixed, as he benefited from injuries to others in the early part of the season, before slipping down the pecking order later in the season, after new players were signed. He went out on loan twice; first to Queens Park Rangers F.C., then to Plymouth Argyle F.C..

He played regularly in the first half of the 2006/07 season but, in January it was announced on the official Wolves website that Clarke was to be listed for transfer. This was as manager Mick McCarthy wished to "freshen up" the strike force and it was felt that it would be best for Clarke to find a new club.

Sheffield Wednesday

On 15 January 2007, Sheffield Wednesday F.C. manager Brian Laws announced that the Owls had completed the signing of Clarke for an undisclosed fee, thought to be around £300,000 signing a contract until 2009. He wore the number 18 shirt, for the remainder of the 2006-07 in English football season.
However, only two months later it was announced that Leon Clarke would be going out on loan to League One promotion chasing side Oldham Athletic A.F.C. without even making a starting appearance for Wednesday.

Clarke proceeded to score his first goal for Oldham against League One rivals Doncaster Rovers in a 4-0 victory on 11 March 2006. In total, Clarke played five games and scored three goals for Oldham. After returning to Hillsborough, he was immediately placed in the first team and scored on his first start in a 2-1 victory against Cardiff City.
After only one goal and one start in the early stages of the 2007-08 in English football season, he was sent on loan to Southend United F.C. until January on the last day of the summer 2007 transfer window. He made a great impression on his debut, scoring one goal and setting up two others in a 3-0 victory against Gillingham.
After returning to his parent club Sheffield Wednesday F.C. he was restricted to one start and five substitute appearances for the rest of the 2007-2008 season, but made three important contributions. This included providing the flick on for Marcus Tudgay to score the second goal of a memorable win against Sheffield United on 19 January 2008, scoring the 3rd goal as Sheffield Wednesday F.C. beat Leicester City F.C. 3–1 in the vital relegation clash between the clubs on 26 April 2008 and following this up with another goal in the Owl's final game of the season, a 4–1 win over at Hillsborough Stadium on 4 May 2008.