1. Clarke James Carlisle was born on 14 October 1979 and is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender and was chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association.
65 Facts About Clarke Carlisle
1. 2.
Clarke Carlisle moved to Queens Park Rangers in May 2000.
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Clarke Carlisle missed a number of matches for Queens Park Rangers due to a posterior cruciate ligament injury which at one stage led doctors to believe that his career was over.
4.
Clarke Carlisle spent just one season with Leeds United before signing for Championship club Watford in August 2005.
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An imposing figure in the centre of defence thanks to his stature, Clarke Carlisle provided an attacking threat from set pieces.
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Clarke Carlisle is a practising Christian and regularly attends church.
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Clarke Carlisle attended Balshaw's Church of England High School where he attained 10 A-grades at GCSE and studied mathematics and politics at A-level, and in 2002 was awarded the title of "Britain's Brainiest Footballer" in a TV game show.
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Clarke Carlisle has been an ambassador for the Kick It Out campaign and is a former chairman of the management committee of the Professional Footballers' Association.
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Clarke Carlisle has suffered from recurring problems with alcohol and depression.
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Clarke Carlisle grew up in the city with his parents, Mervin and Rose.
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Clarke Carlisle went on to study A-level mathematics and politics at Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College while he was unable to play football due to an injury.
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Clarke Carlisle has a degree in Professional Sports Writing and Broadcasting from Staffordshire University, and has expressed interest in taking up teaching work following his football career.
13.
Clarke Carlisle was inspired to become a footballer by his father, Mervin, who played semi-professionally for Morecambe and Southport.
14.
Clarke Carlisle started playing at a young age and represented Lancashire at under-15 level, before being signed by Blackpool where he became a trainee with the youth team.
15.
Clarke Carlisle signed a professional contract with the club on 13 August 1997 and moved into the first-team squad.
16.
Clarke Carlisle played 12 matches in his first season, scoring two goals.
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Clarke Carlisle subsequently missed one month of the season after being admitted to Sporting Chance, a clinic run by former England international footballer Tony Adams, for 28 days for treatment for alcohol-related problems.
18.
In June 2004, Clarke Carlisle agreed to join recently relegated Championship club Leeds United on a free transfer.
19.
Clarke Carlisle was offered a new contract by Queens Park Rangers, but he was keen to return to northern England and cut short his summer holiday in Tenerife to sign for the West Yorkshire club on a two-year contract.
20.
When fit again, Clarke Carlisle found it difficult to break into the first team as his place in the centre of defence had been taken by Matthew Kilgallon.
21.
Clarke Carlisle regained his place in the team towards the end of the season, starting in each of the final four matches of the campaign.
22.
Clarke Carlisle left Leeds in the summer of 2005, having spent one season at the club, playing 38 matches and scoring four times for the team as they reached the third round of the League Cup and attained a 14th-placed finish in the league.
23.
Watford manager Aidy Boothroyd, who had been a coach at Leeds during the previous season, was pleased with the signing, stating that Clarke Carlisle was "exactly the type of defender I wanted".
24.
On 4 November 2005, Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Glenn Hoddle accused Clarke Carlisle of stamping on goalkeeper Michael Oakes in the match the previous weekend, and threatened to report him to the Football Association.
25.
Clarke Carlisle played in two reserve team matches for Watford in order to regain some fitness, hoping to break into the first team and make his Premier League debut.
26.
On 2 March 2007, Clarke Carlisle joined local rivals Luton Town on a one-month emergency loan deal in an attempt to return to full match fitness.
27.
Clarke Carlisle managed to keep his place in the team under the new regime and was a regular fixture in the team for the first six months of the season.
28.
Clarke Carlisle remained out of the team for the whole of February 2009.
29.
Clarke Carlisle went on to score three further goals in the last two months of the season, getting his name on the scoresheet against Nottingham Forest, Southampton and his former team, Queens Park Rangers.
30.
Clarke Carlisle's goals helped Burnley to a fifth-placed finish in the Championship, and a place in the play-offs.
31.
Clarke Carlisle was a regular starter for Preston during the opening months of the season and played in the cup competitions as the team reached the third round of the League Cup before being eliminated by Southampton and progressed to the same stage of the Football League Trophy with penalty shoot-out victories over Morecambe and Rochdale.
32.
Clarke Carlisle was handed a one-match ban after receiving his fifth yellow card of the campaign in the FA Cup first round defeat to Southend United on 22 November 2011.
33.
Clarke Carlisle returned to the Preston team for the visit to Rochdale on 2 January 2012, when he was selected to play alongside Craig Morgan by caretaker managers Graham Alexander and David Unsworth.
34.
Later the same day, Clarke Carlisle signed for League Two club Northampton Town, managed by former Watford boss Aidy Boothroyd, on loan for the remainder of the season.
35.
Clarke Carlisle was appointed captain upon his arrival at the club and was a regular first team player, often playing alongside fellow centre-back Kelvin Langmead.
36.
Clarke Carlisle was released by Burnley in May 2012 after the expiry of his contract.
37.
Clarke Carlisle signed for newly promoted League Two club York City on 30 August 2012 on a contract lasting until January 2013, having previously turned down a contract offer from Northampton.
38.
On 19 November 2012, Clarke Carlisle re-signed for Northampton on loan until January 2013, when he would sign permanently, having made 14 appearances for York.
39.
Clarke Carlisle's predominant playing position is as a centre-back and he has been described as a "defensive lynchpin".
40.
Clarke Carlisle has stated that as a youngster, he modelled his style of play on defenders such as Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister.
41.
Clarke Carlisle is not known for his pace, and this has caused him some disciplinary problems as he has received eight red cards during his career.
42.
Clarke Carlisle looks to use his size to cause an attacking threat from set pieces such as free kicks and corner kicks, and scored 39 goals in his career.
43.
Clarke Carlisle is an ambassador for the Kick It Out scheme, which campaigns for inclusion and equality in football.
44.
Clarke Carlisle is currently on the Management Committee of the Professional Footballers' Association, and it was announced on 17 November 2010 that Carlisle would succeed Chris Powell as the chairman of the PFA.
45.
Clarke Carlisle was among those who criticised FIFA president Sepp Blatter following his comments in November 2011 that racism was no longer a problem in football.
46.
In October 2009, Clarke Carlisle made his first appearance on the BBC television football programme Match of the Day 2.
47.
Clarke Carlisle has since appeared as a pundit for Sky Sports and ITV Sport during numerous televised football matches.
48.
Clarke Carlisle has made two appearances on the BBC panel debate show Question Time, becoming the first footballer to appear on the programme.
49.
Clarke Carlisle presented a second documentary for BBC Three, Football's Suicide Secret, on the issue of mental health in football on 9 July 2013.
50.
Clarke Carlisle published his autobiography, You Don't Know Me, But.
51.
From an early age, Clarke Carlisle was encouraged to follow Christianity by his parents.
52.
Clarke Carlisle adopted those beliefs, and became a regular churchgoer during his time at Watford.
53.
Clarke Carlisle was married to Gemma, whom he met just prior to his admission to the Sporting Chance clinic.
54.
Clarke Carlisle has a daughter named Francesca, born in 1999, from a previous relationship.
55.
Clarke Carlisle is close friends with Adebayo Akinfenwa, his former teammate at Northampton.
56.
On 30 January 2002, Clarke Carlisle was awarded the accolade of "Britain's Brainiest Footballer" in a television quiz.
57.
Clarke Carlisle appeared as a contestant on the Channel 4 game show Countdown on 24 February 2010, winning his first match against the defending champion to stay on the show for the following programme.
58.
Clarke Carlisle then won his second contest, achieving a larger score than the previous day to stay on for another match.
59.
Clarke Carlisle had surgery soon after and his wife reported that he was "very poorly" but "alive and stable".
60.
Burnley and Liverpool supporters performed a minute's applause in support of Clarke Carlisle starting in the fifth minute of their match on 26 December 2014, in reference to Clarke Carlisle wearing the number five shirt for Burnley.
61.
On 30 December 2014, it was announced that Clarke Carlisle was charged with a drink-driving offence on 20 December 2014.
62.
Clarke Carlisle appeared at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court on 20 January 2015.
63.
In February 2015, after leaving hospital, Clarke Carlisle said that he had been trying to kill himself when he was hit by the lorry in December 2014.
64.
On 15 September 2017, Clarke Carlisle was reported missing, having last been seen earlier that day in Manchester city centre.
65.
Clarke Carlisle later explained that he was intent on taking his own life that day and was deciding how to do so.