Bobby Clark (footballer)

Not to be confused with Bobby Clarke (footballer).

Bobby Clark

Bobby Clark dives to save a shot in an international football match between Scotland and Netherlands, 30 May 1968.
Personal information
Full name	Robert Brown Clark
Date of birth	(1945-09-26) 26 September 1945
Place of birth	Glasgow, Scotland
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1962–1965	Queen's Park	84	(0)
1965–1982	Aberdeen	425	(0)
1967	→ Washington Whips (loan)	12	(0)
1976	→ San Antonio Thunder (loan)	19	(0)
1983	Clyde	4	(0)
Total		544	(0)
International career
1967–1973	Scotland	17	(0)
1971	Scottish League XI	1	(0)
1976–1977	Scotland U21	3	(0)
Managerial career
1984–1985	Highlanders
1985–1993	Dartmouth College
1994–1996	New Zealand
1996–2000	Stanford University
2001–	University of Notre Dame
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Robert "Bobby" Clark (born 26 September 1945 in Glasgow) is a former Scottish football goalkeeper who spent most his playing career with Aberdeen F.C. and later emigrated to America as a coach.

Playing career

Clark graduated from Jordanhill College in Glasgow, Scotland in 1967 with a degree in Physical Education. He started his senior career with Queen's Park F.C. and also played for Aberdeen F.C., with whom he won the 1970 Scottish Cup, the 1976 League Cup and the 1980 Premier League Championship. He earned 17 caps for the Scotland national football team, and was Scotland's backup goalkeeper at the 1978 FIFA World Cup. During his time at Aberdeen, Clark played some games as a defender after losing his place in goal to Ernie McGarr.

Clark was named first team all-star goalkeeper in the 1967 United Soccer Association playing for the Washington Whips. He also spent the summer of 1976, on loan, in the NASL, playing for the San Antonio Thunder.

A fan of Scottish First Division side Clyde, Clark came out of retirement in 1983 to help Clyde when they had a goalkeeping injury crisis. His father, Tom, was once the chairman of Clyde. In autumn 1984 he once more came out of retirement to keep goal for Forres Mechanics in a 1–0 victory over Buckie Thistle in the Highland League Cup Final held at Elgin.

Clark set the British top-flight record for not conceding a goal in consecutive, all-competition matches (at 1,155 minutes) in the 1970–71 season, until Edwin van der Sar set a new mark on 8 February 2009. He also briefly held the world record, until Bulgarian goalkeeper Stoyan Yordanov set a new record of 1202 minutes in May 1971. Fraser Forster broke the Scottish league record in 2014 and was congratulated by Clark after the match in which it was surpassed.

Management career

Since 2001, he has been the head coach of the University of Notre Dame men's soccer team, having previously coached Highlanders F.C., Bulawayo (1983–84), Dartmouth College (1985–93), the New Zealand national football team (1994–96), and Stanford University (1996–2000).

Family associations

His son Jamie has played in Major League Soccer and is currently Head Soccer Coach at University of Washington. His son Tommy, a paediatrician, is the founder and executive director of the HIV prevention organisation Grassroot Soccer. His daughter, Jennifer Clark, is also a soccer coach.

External links

• Bobby Clark – FIFA competition record
• Profile at Notre Dame
• Bobby Clark at scottishfa.co.uk