Bobby Clark (footballer)

Not to be confused with Bobby Clarke (footballer).
Bobby Clark

Bobby Clark dives to save a shot in an international football match between Scotland and Netherlands, 30 May 1968.
Personal information
Full name Robert Brown Clark
Date of birth (1945-09-26) 26 September 1945
Place of birth Glasgow, Scotland
Playing position Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1962–1965 Queen's Park 84 (0)
1965–1982 Aberdeen 425 (0)
1967 → Washington Whips (loan) 12 (0)
1976 → San Antonio Thunder (loan) 19 (0)
1983 Clyde 4 (0)
Total 544 (0)
National team
1967–1973 Scotland 17 (0)
1971 Scottish League XI[1] 1 (0)
1976–1977 Scotland U21[2] 3 (0)
Teams managed
1984–1985 Highlanders
1985–1993 Dartmouth College
1994–1996 New Zealand
1996–2000 Stanford University
2001– University of Notre Dame

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

† Appearances (goals)

Robert "Bobby" Clark (born 26 September 1945 in Glasgow) is a former Scottish football goalkeeper who spent most his playing career with Aberdeen F.C. and later emigrated to America as a coach.

Playing career

Clark graduated from Jordanhill College in Glasgow, Scotland in 1967 with a degree in Physical Education. He started his senior career with Queen's Park F.C. and also played for Aberdeen F.C., with whom he won the 1970 Scottish Cup, the 1976 League Cup and the 1980 Premier League Championship. He earned 17 caps for the Scotland national football team, and was Scotland's backup goalkeeper at the 1978 FIFA World Cup. During his time at Aberdeen, Clark played some games as a defender after losing his place in goal to Ernie McGarr.[3]

Clark was named first team all-star goalkeeper in the 1967 United Soccer Association playing for the Washington Whips. He also spent the summer of 1976, on loan, in the NASL, playing for the San Antonio Thunder.

A fan of Scottish First Division side Clyde, Clark came out of retirement in 1983 to help Clyde when they had a goalkeeping injury crisis. His father, Tom, was once the chairman of Clyde. In autumn 1984 he once more came out of retirement to keep goal for Forres Mechanics in a 1–0 victory over Buckie Thistle in the Highland League Cup Final held at Elgin.

Clark set the British top-flight record for not conceding a goal in consecutive, all-competition matches (at 1,155 minutes) in the 1970–71 season, until Edwin van der Sar set a new mark on 8 February 2009.[4] He also briefly held the world record, until Bulgarian goalkeeper Stoyan Yordanov set a new record of 1202 minutes in May 1971.[5] Fraser Forster broke the Scottish league record in 2014 and was congratulated by Clark after the match in which it was surpassed.[6]

Management career

Since 2001, he has been the head coach of the University of Notre Dame men's soccer team, having previously coached Highlanders F.C., Bulawayo (1983–84), Dartmouth College (1985–93), the New Zealand national football team (1994–96),[7] and Stanford University (1996–2000).

Family associations

His son Jamie has played in Major League Soccer and is currently Head Soccer Coach at University of Washington. His son Tommy, a paediatrician, is the founder and executive director of the HIV prevention organisation Grassroot Soccer. His daughter, Jennifer Clark, is also a soccer coach.

References

  1. ↑ "Bobby Clark". Londonhearts.com (London Hearts Supporters' Club). Retrieved 18 December 2011.
  2. ↑ "Bobby Clark". www.fitbastats.com. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  3. ↑ "Two's a crowd". Aberdeen Football Club. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
  4. ↑ Lewis, Simon (10 February 2009). "Bobby Clark adds praise from afar after Edwin van der Sar smashes his record". The Times (UK). Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  5. ↑ "World Record of the national championships (1888/89-2010)". IFFHS. Retrieved 6 November 2010.
  6. ↑ "Fraser Forster: Celtic clean sheet record a team effort". BBC Sport. BBC. 22 February 2014. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  7. ↑ "National Coaches". NZ Football. Retrieved 29 January 201. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)

External links

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