Clarke was born in short heath]. He joined home-town club Wolverhampton Wanderers as an associate schoolboy on his 15th birthday in 1976, despite competition from leading clubs, and became an apprentice when he left school the following year. He also represented England at schoolboy and youth level. Clarke signed his first professional contract in March 1978, and made his first team debut as a substitute on 9 May 1978 in a 2–1 win away to Ipswich Town. He was a member of the 16-man travelling squad when Wolves won the League Cup in 1980, but did not play. Competing for places with Andy Gray and John Richards, he was a member of the team that suffered relegation from the First Division in 1982 but reclaimed their top flight status the following season. He scored 33 goals in 170 appearances in all competitions before Ron Saunders took him to Second Division Birmingham City in 1984. 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.
Birmingham City
Clarke scored 19 goals in his first season at Birmingham, which made him their leading scorer. His 17 league goals made a major contribution to the club winning the 1984–85 Second Division title. His season in the top flight with Birmingham was interrupted by suspension and minor injuries, and he only managed five goals as the side were relegated, which included scoring twice in Birmingham's 3–0 win in the local derby away to Aston Villa. In 1986–87, Clarke again scored 19 goals, which again made him leading scorer. With Birmingham struggling to avoid further relegation to the Third Division and in financial difficulties, the club accepted an offer from Everton who were in need of an emergency replacement for the injured Graeme Sharp. Clarke joined Everton in March 1987 together with inexperienced reserve striker Stuart Storer, the pair jointly valued at £300,000. Former club Wolves complained to the Football League because they believed Birmingham were deliberately inflating the valuation placed on Storer to reduce the amount they would owe Wolves under the sell-on clause for Clarke. 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 still owing most of the £350,000 fee.
Everton
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, and earning himself a championship medal. He then began the following season with the only goal in a 1–0 Charity Shield win over FA Cup winnersCoventry 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. However, with Graeme Sharp and Adrian Heath being Everton's main striking partnership, Clarke's appearances for Everton in the 1987–88 and 1988–89 seasons were largely limited to coming on from the substitute's bench or covering for Sharp or Heath when they were injured. He helped Everton reach the FA Cup final but did not play in the final, following which Everton brought in Mike Newell from Leicester City in part exchange for Clarke and £500,000.
Leicester City
Clarke's return to the Second Division was brief. 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. He moved in a part-exchange deal valued at £650,000 which saw David Oldfield join Leicester.
Manchester City
Clarke was unable to claim a regular place in the Manchester City side. While at Maine Road he was loaned to Shrewsbury Town, where he scored six goals in seven games, then to Stoke City, and then back to Wolves, where he was viewed as a potential partner for Steve Bull. However his first appearance for the club lasted just 20 minutes before he punctured a lung, returned to Manchester City, and on his return to fitness was not allowed out on loan again.
Walsall
Clarke's next move came in the summer of 1992 when he joined Walsall in Division Three. He was the fourth of the brothers to play for Walsall, and the move meant he had played in all four divisions of the Football League. He was the club's top scorer in the 1992–93 season with 21 goals in 39 games, helping them to a playoff position, but they were heavily defeated in the playoff semi-final by Crewe Alexandra and Clarke was sold to local rivals Shrewsbury Town, managed by former Wolves goalkeeper Fred Davies.
Shrewsbury Town
Clarke spent two seasons at Gay Meadow having previously had a successful loan period at the club several years earlier. Clarke joined Shrewsbury from Walsall on the eve of The 1993–94 season. Clarke had a successful season finishing second top scorer with 18 goals, helping to bring the Division Three title and promotion to Division Two. Clarke was the youngest brother of Frank Clarke whom had also played for Shrewsbury Town as a striker. The club released him at the end of the 1994–95 season, he had scored 22 goals in 59 games.
Managerial career
Clarke was appointed player-manager of Telford United in the Conference in July 1995, and resigned 18 months later after a spell of poor results, though with the club in mid-table. In June 1997 he applied for the vacant manager's post at former club Walsall, but was unsuccessful.
