Allan Clarke at 80: A look back at stellar career of Leeds United and Barnsley FC legend
THERE are goalscorers and there are goalscorers..
You will not find too many dissenters from the widely-held maxim that Allan Clarke - who turned 80 today - is perhaps the most naturally-gifted predator to have ever worn the Leeds United jersey. In the winter of his career, he briefly served Barnsley with distinction too.
Finding the net with unerring precision and regularity was something that was simply part of his DNA - and joyously acted out on too many occasions to recite from 1969 to 1978 at Elland Road.
The Black Country man was as clinical as they come in front of goal, while also being blessed with a superb touch, instinctive movement and the selfishness required in any deadly striker worth his salt.
The man known universally as Sniffer, in deference to his uncanny scoring ability, was already a goalscorer of some repute when he left Leicester City to join Leeds in a club record £165,000 deal in July 1969.
Goals paid the rent for Leicester and previous clubs Fulham and Walsall and with considerable interest for Leeds, Clarke finding the net on his league debut at Elland Road in a 3-1 win over Spurs in August 9, 1969 and not looking back.
His last goals arrived by way of a brace in the 5-0 romp against Middlesbrough on March 18, 1978, part of a goal-den harvest of 151 during his time in West Yorkshire.
That included two four-goal hauls - in an FA Cup romp at Sutton in January 1970 and all four in the 4-0 win over Burnley at Elland Road in April 1971, the next home game being the infamous Ray Tinkler-inspired loss to West Brom.
That early-seventies era was when Clarke was at the height of his powers and arguably England's top striker, with his trademark celebration of right arm coolly lofted in the air a firm part of the footballing landscape in this country.
Granted, Leeds' trophy haul should have been greater during a spell when they were the bridesmaids a few too many times - often through not too much fault of their own - but Clarke was the consummate big game player with perhaps the only surprise being that he was capped just 19 times by his country. Many felt he deserved substantially more.
As far as Whites fans were concerned, Clarke had few peers.
He famously found the net in the second leg of the Fairs Cup final success, on away goals, against Juventus at the end of the 1970-71 season and struck decisive goals in a European Cup Winners Cup semi-final (against Hadjuk Split in April 1973) and European Cup semi-final (against Barcelona two years later).
No prizes for guessing his most venerated strike. Which arrived at Wembley and brought the cup home to Leeds on May 6, 1972.
Clarke's long-range stooping header in the 53rd minute was a thing of beauty, with footage of that landmark decisive goal having been played over time and time again in thousands of Whites-supporting households since.
Complete with David Coleman's unique commentary: 'Mick Jones on the right; number nine. He's going to take on McNab on the outside; he's around the back. Clarke! One-Nil..."
On that iconic moment, Clarke - possessing the certainty only a sure-footed marksman could have - ventured: "The goalkeeper never had a chance. I picked my place and it was well out of his reach.”
After leaving Leeds, Clarke made the short hop down the M1 to Barnsley, becoming their first ever player-manager when he arrived in the summer of 1978.
He broke the Reds' malaise in the 1970s and got the club moving back in an upward direction during the late 70s and first half of the Eighties before the lure of a return to Elland Road as manager proved irresistible.
Clarke achieved promotion from the fourth tier in his first season, scoring 12 goals, including a hat-trick against Port Vale on Boxing Day 1978.
The following December after the Reds lost 7-0 at Reading, Clarke decided to end his playing career. He was infuriated by the performance of his team on that day at Elm Park and ordered his players to spend a day down a Yorkshire coal mine at Woolley Colliery to show them what they could have been doing for a living.
It was a brief aberration. Barnsley were set fair for another tilt at promotion in the third in 1980-81 before he left in September 1980.
Clarke took coach Barry Murphy and chief scout Martin Wilkinson with him, leaving Norman Hunter to become player-manager and ensure their promotion.
Stellar names such as Mick McCarthy, Ronnie Glavin, Derrick Parker and Trevor Aylott came to prominence under the tutelage of Clarke, who had a second spell at Oakwell in the second half of the Eighties. By then, the Reds were a solid second-tier side.
While Clarke's timing in front of goal was always nothing less than exquisite, his spell in charge of Leeds in the early eighties wasn't quite so timely with the Midlander leaving Elland Road in June 1982 following the wreckage of a season in 1981-82 when the club were relegated to the second division.
Sadly, his managerial career at Leeds didn't prove as fulfilling as his playing days, but what memories he provided during the Super Leeds era.