Isaac Clarke was an English footballer and football manager.
12 Facts About Ike Clarke
1.
2.
Ike Clarke is most notable for scoring the goal which won Portsmouth their first League title.
3.
Clarke, called Ike everywhere he went, was born at Tipton during the First World War on 9 January 1915.
4.
Ike Clarke began playing in an amateur Wolverhampton league for Toll End Westley, and then signed as a professional for West Bromwich Albion, then a First Division club, in 1937.
5.
Ike Clarke was officially on their books for ten years, but most of that career was lost through the Second World War.
6.
Ike Clarke was to win them over and become one of the most popular players on the side.
7.
Ike Clarke was a big brave center-forward in the classic British tradition, but had a good footballing brain and some skill, and linked up what was the formidable forward line that Pompey boasted at that time.
8.
Ike Clarke went on to serve Pompey sporadically in the 1950s and in all he clocked up 129 appearances, 116 in the League, and 58 goals, 49 in the League.
9.
In 1953 Ike Clarke gave up playing full-time football at the age of 38 and looked for his first job in management.
10.
On 10 May 1953 Ike Clarke became The Glover's fourth manager since the War.
11.
The next season Ike Clarke took Yeovil to the Southern League and Southern League cup double.
12.
Ike Clarke later took charge of Canterbury City, becoming their longest serving manager before retiring to Herne Bay in Kent, where he lived until his death in April 2002 at the age of 87.