Playing as a striker, he scored nearly 150 goals over the course of his career and was a member of the Everton team which finished as English league champions in 1987.
Clubs that were interested in taking Clarke at the time included Arsenal and Leeds where he had trials and both Merseysider teams were keen too.
Clarke and his parents also went for a meal with Brian Clough who was managing Nottingham Forest and was to be told "look, I want you to come with us" but he preferred to stay at home and signed for the Wanderers.
"[9] Clarke signed his first professional contract in March 1978,[8] and made his first team debut as a substitute on 9 May 1978 in a 2–1 win away to Ipswich Town aged 17, replacing Mel Eves in the final game of the 1977-78 season.
[22] Clarke made 22 starts and 10 appearances off the bench during the 1980/81 season including coming on as a 78th minute substitute in Eindhoven as Wolves faced PSV in UEFA Cup and was a member of the team that suffered relegation from the First Division in 1981/82 but reclaimed their top flight status the following season contributing with 42 starts and 13 goals.
[23][24][25] Clarke left the club at the end of the 1983 - 84 season following a second relegation from the top flight, contributing a further 10 goals in 36 appearances.
The fee of £80,000 was set by tribunal and included a clause entitling Wolves to half of any profit made from a future sale of the player.
[33] Clarke joined Everton in March 1987 together with inexperienced reserve striker Stuart Storer, the pair jointly valued at £300,000.
[29] Birmingham's actions may have been an attempt to recoup money lost on the 1981 sale of Joe Gallagher to Wolves, when the club was declared bankrupt the following year[34] still owing most of the £350,000 fee.
[35] Joining Everton in the closing months of the 1986–87 season, Clarke quickly established himself as a key member of Everton's championship-winning side scoring five goals in ten games, notably the winning goal away at Arsenal not long after he joined,[36] and earning himself a championship medal.
[33] He then began the following season with the only goal in a 1–0 Charity Shield win over FA Cup winners Coventry City at Wembley, and later scored the only goal in the Merseyside derby that not only beat arch-rivals Liverpool, but also prevented them setting a new record of 30 games unbeaten from the start of a season.
After just 11 league games and one goal, Clarke returned to the top flight with Manchester City, managed by Howard Kendall who had bought him for Everton three years earlier.
[42] Clarke spent two seasons at Gay Meadow having previously had a successful loan period at the club several years earlier.
Clarke was appointed player-manager of Telford United in the Conference in July 1995,[43] and resigned 18 months later after a spell of poor results, though with the club in mid-table.