She worked as a confectioner's apprentice from the age of 15, and received her formative sporting education playing the game in her neighbourhood streets, in an area very close to where the suffragist Helen Graham Matthews lived.

Matthews later gave her name to a team for which Clarke played at the beginning of the twentieth century,[dubious – discuss] Mrs Graham's XI.

[2] Clarke normally played as an outfield player, described by the South Wales Daily News as "the fleet footed dark girl on the right wing".

[2] For decades, Clarke and her contribution to the game was mistaken for goalkeeper Carrie Boustead, once described by a journalist as "a coloured lady of Dutch build", who was later confirmed to be white.

[2] In 2019, a blue heritage plaque commemorating Clarke was unveiled at Campsbourne School, Hornsey, which is the site of her team, the former Crouch End FC.