John Clark Player Profile

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Player Details



Playing History

Season Win % Draw % Loss %
1993-94 17 (2) 3 4 0 26.3% 47.4% 26.3%
1992-93 39 (2) 2 6 0 41.5% 19.5% 39.0%
1991-92 36 (3) 2 3 0 46.2% 28.2% 25.6%
1990-91 24 (1) 4 0 1 48.0% 16.0% 36.0%
1989-90 27 (11) 4 0 0 36.8% 31.6% 31.6%
1988-89 26 (4) 2 5 0 40.0% 36.7% 23.3%
1987-88 22 (17) 5 4 0 33.3% 38.5% 28.2%
1986-87 41 (6) 7 6 0 51.1% 29.8% 19.1%
1985-86 6 (7) 1 0 0 30.8% 15.4% 53.8%
1984-85 9 (6) 6 2 0 60.0% 13.3% 26.7%
1983-84 4 (16) 1 0 0 40.0% 35.0% 25.0%
1982-83 1 (2) 0 0 0 33.3% 33.3% 33.3%
1981-82 - - - - - - -
Totals: 252 (77) 37


 Apps = First Team Appearances (Sub Appearances) | Gls = Goals
 GtGR = Goals to Games Ratio | W/D/L - Games won, drawn or lost as percentage of games played in
 Yel = Yellow Cards/Cautions | Red = Red Cards/Dismissals

 Recent First Team Starts
 09/11/93 Premier Division vs. Raith Rovers (H) 2 - 2
 06/11/93 Premier Division vs. Hearts (A) 1 - 1
 30/10/93 Premier Division vs. St Johnstone (H) 2 - 0
 23/10/93 Premier Division vs. Aberdeen (A) 0 - 2
 16/10/93 Premier Division vs. Partick Th (H) 2 - 2

 Recent First Team Goals
 28/09/93 1st Round 2nd Leg vs. Brøndby (H) 3 - 1
 31/08/93 Quarter Final vs. Falkirk (H) 3 - 3
 06/03/93 Premier Division vs. Airdrie (A) 3 - 1
 21/11/92 Premier Division vs. Dundee (A) 3 - 1
 26/10/91 Premier Division vs. Airdrie (A) 3 - 1

 List of Goals Scored (click to expand)
 28/09/93 1st Round 2nd Leg vs. Brøndby (H)  3 - 1
 31/08/93 Quarter Final vs. Falkirk (H)  3 - 3
 31/08/93 Quarter Final vs. Falkirk (H)  3 - 3
 06/03/93 Premier Division vs. Airdrie (A)  3 - 1
 21/11/92 Premier Division vs. Dundee (A)  3 - 1
 26/10/91 Premier Division vs. Airdrie (A)  3 - 1
 20/08/91 2nd Round vs. Montrose (H)  3 - 2
 06/04/91 Semi Final vs. St Johnstone (N)  2 - 1
 16/02/91 Premier Division vs. Hearts (A)  1 - 2
 29/01/91 3rd Round Replay vs. East Fife (H)  2 - 1
 05/01/91 Premier Division vs. St Mirren (H)  3 - 2
 03/02/90 Premier Division vs. Rangers (A)  1 - 3
 23/01/90 3rd Round Replay vs. Dundee (H)  1 - 0
 31/10/89 2nd Round 2nd Leg vs. Antwerp (H)  3 - 2
 27/09/89 1st Round 2nd Leg vs. Glentoran (H)  2 - 0
 27/08/88 Premier Division vs. Aberdeen (H)  2 - 2
 13/08/88 Premier Division vs. St Mirren (A)  1 - 0
 16/04/88 Premier Division vs. Motherwell (A)  2 - 4
 28/11/87 Premier Division vs. Dundee (H)  1 - 3
 04/11/87 2nd Round 2nd Leg vs. Vitkovice (A)  1 - 1
 24/10/87 Premier Division vs. Celtic (A)  2 - 1
 30/09/87 1st Round 2nd Leg vs. Coleraine (H)  3 - 1
 20/05/87 Final 2nd Leg vs. IFK (H)  1 - 1
 28/04/87 Premier Division vs. Hamilton (H)  2 - 1
 18/04/87 Premier Division vs. Celtic (A)  1 - 1
 18/03/87 Quarter Final 2nd Leg vs. Barcelona (A)  2 - 1
 26/11/86 3rd Round 1st Leg vs. Hajduk Split (H)  2 - 0
 19/11/86 Premier Division vs. Hamilton (H)  3 - 0
 22/10/86 2nd Round 1st Leg vs. Univ Craiova (H)  3 - 0
 31/08/85 Premier Division vs. Motherwell (A)  1 - 0
 04/05/85 Premier Division vs. Rangers (H)  2 - 1
 26/09/84 Semi Final 1st Leg vs. Hearts (A)  2 - 1
 26/09/84 Semi Final 1st Leg vs. Hearts (A)  2 - 1
 08/09/84 Premier Division vs. Dundee (H)  3 - 4
 08/09/84 Premier Division vs. Dundee (H)  3 - 4
 05/09/84 4th Round vs. Celtic (H)  2 - 1
 21/04/84 Premier Division vs. Dundee (H)  1 - 1

 List of Games Played
Sorry, there are too many games to display for this player.


Biography

John was an S signing from Musselburgh Windsor in March 1981, and by September that year he had signed professionally and was playing in the forward line with the United reserves. He made a scoring debut in a testimonial match for Fraser Kellas against Elgin City in May 1982, coming on as a substitute. John made his competitive debut as a substitute in later that year, in a UEFA Cup tie against Viking Stavanger in November.

In early 1983 he was part of the Scotland youth squad. Still an attacking player, he gradually broke into the first eleven by 1983-84, an able stand-in for Paul Sturrock, Davie Dodds and John Reilly, making three substitute appearances during United’s European Cup run, including a semi-final appearance against Roma. He collected a runners-up medal in the League Cup final against Rangers the following season, and having began his career as an attacking player, he was converted to a defensive role by manager Jim McLean – a move which saw a dramatic upturn in his United career.

John played an important part in United’s run to the UEFA Cup final in May 1987. Having already scored in earlier rounds against Universitatea Craiova and Hadjuk Split, he hammered home a late header against Barcelona at the Camp Nou to send United through to the semi-finals in one of the clubs most famous victories. He also netted United's goal in the second leg of the final against Gothenburg with a fantastic strike from the edge of the box at Tannadice, but unfortunately collected a runners-up medal. He was also on the losing side in the Scottish Cup final in the same season against St Mirren and against Celtic a year later.

A big favourite with the fans, he continued to play regularly and was linked with a £1m transfer to Spurs in January 1990. In August 1990 he quit Tannadice to work in his family business in West Lothian, but within a month he was back at United. In 1991, he lost out on a Scottish Cup medal for the third time, in the final against Motherwell. He had two more seasons with United and appeared to be bound for Middlesbrough in January 1994, but a month later moved to Stoke City for around £200,000.

In August 1994 he was granted a testimonial match by United against his new club. He was with the English side for just a few months before joining Falkirk in September 1994. After two years with them he moved to Dunfermline Athletic. In December 1996 he played trials at Ross County, and in August 1997 he moved to Berwick Rangers where he concluded his senior career at the end of the 1998-99 season. He later had spells as manager at Gala Fairydean and Whitehill Welfare.

John was inducted into the Dundee United Hall of Fame in 2010.

Last updated on Wednesday, April 20th, 2022 by B Orr.





Debut (as sub)

November 3rd, 1982
Dundee United 0 - 0 Viking Stavenger

UEFA Cup (2nd Round 2nd Leg)

Full Debut

January 22nd, 1983
Dundee United 3 - 2 St Mirren

League (Premier Division)


Timeline

  • Date of Birth


    John was born on this date in Edinburgh.

    Tuesday, September 22nd, 1964

  • Signed For Dundee United

    Sunday, August 30th, 1981

  • First Non-Competitive Appearance (Friendly)

    Elgin City 2 - 7 Dundee United
    Friendly (Testimonial for Fraser Kellas)

    Tuesday, May 11th, 1982

  • First Team Debut

    Dundee United 0 - 0 Viking
    UEFA Cup (2nd Round 2nd Leg)

    Having done the hard work two weeks ago in Norway, United had to make sure that they did not let Stavanger back into this tie. Although he had promised a few surprises in the line-up, Jim McLean more

    Wednesday, November 3rd, 1982

  • League Debut

    Dundee United 3 - 2 St Mirren
    League (Premier Division)

    Prior to this Scottish Cup "rehearsal" against St Mirren, United had only picked up one point in their last three matches, dropping five points behind league leaders Celtic. Already without Eamonn Ban

    Saturday, January 22nd, 1983

  • First Goal

    Dundee United 1 - 1 Dundee
    League (Premier Division)

    United's final match prior to the return leg with Roma turned out to be a torrid Derby encounter. Dundee escaped with a point after United failed to capitalise on their dominance, which was particular

    Saturday, April 21st, 1984

  • 50th Appearance

    Dundee United 1 - 2 St Mirren
    League (Premier Division)

    As at Kilbowie the previous week, we took an early lead through Ian Redford, but failed to capitalise. After only five minutes Ian latched on to a Paul Sturrock

    Saturday, April 26th, 1986

  • 50th League Appearance

    Aberdeen 0 - 1 Dundee United
    League (Premier Division)

    Pittodrie was regarded as the ideal preparation for the forthcoming European clash with Barcelona, but at the end of ninety minutes the relevance of our victory was a tremendous boost to our title hop

    Saturday, February 28th, 1987

  • 100th Appearance

    Hearts 4 - 1 Dundee United
    League (Premier Division)

    Hearts collected both points with a quite scintillating display, which had the Jam Tarts' supporters ranking it has one of finest performances by the men in maroon for many a long day. Certainly, had

    Saturday, August 22nd, 1987

  • 100th League Appearance

    Dundee United 1 - 1 Motherwell
    League (Premier Division)

    Failure to convert our chances was undoubtedly the root cause of us dropping a point to a stuffy Motherwell side which earned its fifth consecutive draw. Evidence of our problem cropped up three times

    Saturday, October 29th, 1988

  • 200th Appearance

    Dundee United 1 - 2 Dundee
    League (Premier Division)

    A run of fourteen undefeated Premier home games came to an end when Dundee took both points from a gale swept Tannadice Park. Yet it all started so differently with Paddy Connolly giving us a second m

    Saturday, March 24th, 1990

  • 200th League Appearance

    Dundee United 0 - 4 Rangers
    League (Premier Division)

    United's resources up front were stretched for this encounter with both Duncan Ferguson and Victor Ferreyra suspended, so in came Christian Dailly for his first match of the season. However, it was de

    Saturday, September 26th, 1992

  • 300th Appearance

    Aberdeen 0 - 0 Dundee United
    League (Premier Division)

    For the third consecutive match the Tannadice starting eleven showed no change as we set out to atone for our cup defeat. Clearly there was never any question of that disappointment as we almost went

    Wednesday, February 24th, 1993

  • Last Goal

    Dundee United 3 - 1 Brøndby
    UEFA Cup (1st Round 2nd Leg)

    Faced with the prospect of trying to retrieve a two goal deficit, United suffered a blow when Andy McLaren was ruled out because of flu and John Clark was drafted in up front. The experience of Dave B

    Tuesday, September 28th, 1993

  • Last Appearance

    Dundee United 2 - 2 Raith Rovers
    League (Premier Division)

    Two nothing up and cruising at half time, only what Manager Ivan Golac described as amateurish defending prevented us claiming both points from a match which was there for the taking. Apart from Andy

    Tuesday, November 9th, 1993

  • Left the Club

    Tuesday, February 1st, 1994