Darrell Clarke

Darrell James Clarke (born 16 December 1977) is an English professional football manager and former player who played in the English Football League. He is the manager of League Two club Walsall. A midfielder, his career began with Mansfield Town in 1995, where he spent the first six years of his career, making 160 league appearances. In 2001, he transferred to Hartlepool United, where he spent another six years, racking up 127 appearances in the league. He was sent out on loan to Stockport County, Port Vale, and Rochdale in the final years of his spell. In 2007, he left the professional game to sign for Salisbury City, before taking up the management position at the club in 2010. He led the club to promotion into the Conference Premier from the Southern League with two play-off final victories in three seasons. He was appointed manager of Bristol Rovers in March 2014, but could not prevent the club from dropping out of the English Football League. However, one year later, Clarke successfully guided Bristol Rovers back into the Football League after winning the 2015 Conference Premier play-off Final, and then went on to take the club into League One with promotion out of League Two in 2015–16. At the time of his departure in December 2018, he was the fourth-longest serving manager in the EFL. He was appointed manager at Walsall in May 2019.