Darrell James Clarke was born on 16 December 1977 and is an English professional football manager and former player who played in the English Football League.
36 Facts About Darrell Clarke
2.
Darrell Clarke was recently manager of EFL League One club Port Vale.
3.
Darrell Clarke was sent out on loan to Stockport County, Port Vale, and Rochdale in the final years of his spell.
4.
Darrell Clarke led the club to promotion into the Conference Premier from the Southern League with two play-off final victories in three seasons.
5.
Darrell Clarke was appointed manager of Bristol Rovers in March 2014, but could not prevent the club from dropping out of the English Football League.
6.
Darrell Clarke was appointed manager at Walsall in May 2019 and left the club in February 2021 to manage League Two rivals Port Vale.
7.
Darrell Clarke led the club to promotion with victory in the 2022 play-off final, before being sacked in April 2023.
8.
Darrell Clarke's mother died in a car crash when Clarke was aged two and he and his brother, Wayne, were raised by his grandparents as his father was an alcoholic.
9.
Darrell Clarke was an energetic box-to-box midfielder who had an eye for goal, though defending was his weakness.
10.
Darrell Clarke started his career at Mansfield Town when he joined their youth set up at the age of just 10.
11.
Darrell Clarke made his way through the ranks and was offered a professional contract at Field Mill by Andy King in 1995.
12.
Darrell Clarke was seen by many as the replacement for Tommy Miller.
13.
Darrell Clarke originally failed to cement his place in the starting 11 and found himself in and out of the team, making 26 league starts and 9 substitute appearances.
14.
Darrell Clarke only started 23 league matches, but he still managed to make a further 12 substitute appearances.
15.
In September 2005 Darrell Clarke was loaned to Port Vale, but played just two minutes after being utilised as a late substitute by manager Martin Foyle.
16.
Darrell Clarke was released by Hartlepool manager Danny Wilson in May 2007.
17.
Darrell Clarke was strongly influenced by former teammate Tommy Widdrington to make the switch south, and was the third signing made by Nick Holmes.
18.
Darrell Clarke captained the club to a mid-table finish Salisbury were demoted down into the Southern League Premier Division as punishment for their severe financial problems.
19.
Darrell Clarke spent his spare time coaching the under-8s at Portsmouth.
20.
Darrell Clarke needed to secure an immediate promotion in order to maintain the funding to keep the club a full-time professional organisation and so recruited young players freshly released from Football League clubs.
21.
Darrell Clarke led Salisbury to the Second Round of the FA Trophy in his second season in charge.
22.
Darrell Clarke made history when his side beat Grimsby Town in the FA Cup Second Round, taking Salisbury to the Third Round of the FA Cup for the first time in the club's history, where they faced Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.
23.
In June 2013, Darrell Clarke was appointed as assistant manager of League Two club Bristol Rovers, supporting John Ward.
24.
On 27 May 2016, Darrell Clarke turned down the opportunity to manage Championship club Leeds United and signed a new three-year contract with Bristol Rovers.
25.
Darrell Clarke had met Leeds chairman Massimo Cellino but rejected the opportunity after Cellino told him he wanted an active role in player recruitment.
26.
Whilst Darrell Clarke never turned down any potential offer he instead pledged his loyalty to Rovers instead, the announcement coming a day after his three-year anniversary of his first Rovers match in charge.
27.
Darrell Clarke left his post on 13 December 2018 following a run of seven defeats in ten matches; at the time of his departure he was the fourth-longest serving manager in the EFL.
28.
Darrell Clarke went on to admit that the following campaign would likely see him focus more on youth as the club faced a challenging financial future due to the effects of the pandemic.
29.
On 15 February 2021, Darrell Clarke was appointed as manager of Port Vale, who were 18th in League Two and without a permanent manager since the departure of John Askey at the start of January.
30.
Darrell Clarke arrived a week after David Flitcroft's appointment as director of football.
31.
Darrell Clarke released all 15 out of contract players and placed a further three contracted players on the transfer-list.
32.
Darrell Clarke was linked with the vacant management position at Portsmouth in January 2023, though stated that "I am really happy here [at Port Vale]".
33.
On 17 April 2023, Darrell Clarke was sacked following run of two wins in eighteen games that left the club 18th in League One.
34.
Darrell Clarke is flexible with his formations and is open to different styles of playing rather than sticking to a rigid philosophy, believing that "adaptability is key".
35.
Darrell Clarke is known for his intense training sessions and for producing extremely detailed reports on opposition teams.
36.
Darrell Clarke prefers to maintain a big squad of players and to regularly rotate his starting line-ups.