[3] Former Birmingham manager Lou Macari brought Clarkson to First Division side Stoke City in September 1993 for a fee of £40,000.
When his contract expired he rejected Stoke's offer of renewal terms, and left for Third Division side Northampton Town.
Clarkson went to train at Kidderminster Harriers, which was then a Conference club, and regained sufficient fitness to be able to play regularly at that level.
[9] He then registered for short periods with Stafford Rangers,[10] Leamington[11] and, from March 2003, Forest Green Rovers,[12] finally retiring at the end of the season.
[3] In 2006, he was appointed to manage a scheme designed to involve young people in sport and physical activity, as part of a wider programme of regeneration of the deprived areas of North Solihull.