Louis Clark (English footballer)

Louis Max Clark (born 10 June 1990) is an English footballer who plays in the Isthmian League for Worthing. He can either play as a winger or a striker. He started his football career playing for Brighton & Hove Albion, his youth club, before moving to Lewes in 2007.

Louis Clark
Personal information
Full name Louis Max Clark
Date of birth (1990-06-10) 10 June 1990
Place of birth Brighton, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Worthing
Youth career
1999–2007 Brighton & Hove Albion
2007–2009 Lewes FC
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2010 Ashland University 23 (6)
2011–2013 Syracuse Orange 53 (23)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014 Cobram Victory FC 29 (10)
2015–2016 Kaya Futbol Club 52 (29)
2016 Tampines Rovers 0 (0)
2017– Worthing 0 (0)
Managerial career
2013 Syracuse University (undergrad assistant)
2014 Cobram Victory FC (player-manager)
2014–2016 Kaya FC Academy
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He then moved to the US to play as a student-athlete in Ashland University from 2009 to 2013 before earning a scholarship for an NCAA Division I school, Syracuse University.

After college, he went to Australia to play professional for two clubs, Myrtleford FC (2013) and Cobram Victory FC (2013–2014). In August 2014, he signed for Kaya Futbol Club. He is also one of the youth coaches for his club's youth academy, Kaya FC Academy.[1]

Early years

Clark was born in Brighton, England, where he played for his hometown club, Brighton & Hove Albion, at the age of 9. At 17, he moved to Lewes, where he met his present coach, Chris Greatwich.[1]

College career

Clark moved to the US to play college soccer for NCAA II school Ashland University,[2] but he was banned to play in his freshman year due to NCAA amateurism rules. In his sophomore year, he played with the Eagles, scoring 15 goals for the whole tournament,[1] which earned him an offer to play as a student-athlete for division I school Syracuse University, where he spent and played his two remaining years in college. He scored 25 goals in 53 appearances.[3] He was named one of the best midfielders in the NCAA 2013 class.[4]

Professional career

Myrtleford FC and Cobram Victory FC

After being undrafted in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft,[5] he went to Australia to continue his football career. He signed for Myrtleford FC in 2013, but eventually signed for Cobram Victory FC later that year.[6] He signed for Cobram Victory FC as a player-manager in 2014.

Kaya Futbol Club

In 2014, he signed for one of the oldest clubs in Philippines, Kaya F.C.,[1] reuniting him with his former Lewes FC teammate, Chris Greatwich. On his first cup tournament, the 2014 FA League Cup, he won his first individual award, the Golden Boot, for scoring 10 goals in the tournament.

Following the league tournament, he first shown his impact to the United Football League by scoring 2 goals against one of Kaya FC's rival clubs, Global FC.[7] However, the winger missed some games in the latter part of the UFL league due to injuries.[8] Despite his day-to-day status entering the 2015 UFL Cup tournament, he recovered completely right before the semifinals. He put the fifth goal for the penalty shootout in the semifinals match against Stallion FC, which booked Kaya FC's place in the UFL Cup final against Ceres-La Salle FC.[9][10]

During his first year at the club, Clark helped Kaya FC win its first piece of silverware since 2009 and earned them a spot in the 2016 AFC Cup. It was also Louis Clark's first trophy at the professional level.[11]

Clark was named one of the eligible foreign players that Kaya FC will be using for its first major international club tournament.[12] On 12 April 2016 he scored his first goal in an international match in their 3–0 win against Singaporean club Balestier Khalsa in the 2016 AFC Cup.[13][14]

In November 2016, it was reported that Clark would be signing for S.League side Tampines Rovers for the 2017 S.League season.[15] However, after sustaining a serious injury in December 2016, it was announced that Clark's transfer to the club was cancelled after the injury ruled him out for the entirety of the 2017 S.League season.

Tampines Rovers

Clark signed a contract with Tampines Rovers in November 2016.[16] Howevern in December 2016 it was announced, that his contract was terminated, after Clark suffered a serious injury.[17] Clark damaged his ankle, including cartilage tear, after getting his foot stuck in a pothole while jogging back home in England.

Worthing FC

Clark joined Worthing on 1 February 2017.[18]

Coaching

Aside from being a professional footballer, Clark is also a football coach. He was an undergraduate assistant coach for Syracuse University in 2013. Moreover, he was also the player-manager of Cobram Victory FC in 2014. He's now part of the coaching staff of Kaya FC Academy, the youth academy of his Kaya FC.[19]

References
  1. "Louis Clark - Kaya FC Academy". Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  2. "Ashland University's Louis Clark Named GLIAC Men's Soccer "Athlete of the Week"". 18 October 2010. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  3. "Louis Clark - 2012 Men's Soccer". Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  4. "SuperDraft Top 10: Ranking the best left mids available". MLSSoccer.com.
  5. "Louis Clark | MLSsoccer.com".
  6. "Victory has win with coach - February 6 2014 - FFV - Goulburn North East Football Association".
  7. "UFL: Kaya topples defending champ Global behind Louis Clark's brace - InterAksyon.com - Sports5". Archived from the original on 31 March 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  8. "Post-match Archives - Page 2 of 5 - Kaya Futbol Club". Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  9. "Kaya Book Seat in UFL Cup Final After Penalty Shoot-Out - Kaya Futbol Club". 28 August 2015. Archived from the original on 21 February 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  10. "Kaya, Ceres to face in UFL Cup finals after beating separate foes". Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  11. "Kaya FC wins 2015 UFL Cup". The Manila Times. 29 August 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  12. "Kaya FC taps overseas stars for AFC Cup". The Philippine STAR. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  13. Corp., ABS-CBN. "2016 AFC Cup: Kaya FC blanks Balestier Khalsa to stay ahead of Group F". Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  14. "AFC Cup news: Balestier Khalsa 0-3 Kaya FC: Tigers outplayed and outfought by Philippines' Kaya - Goal.com". 12 April 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  15. "Tampines prepare for life after Mehmet, Pennant by signing English striker". FourFourTwo. 8 November 2016. Archived from the original on 12 November 2016. Retrieved 9 November 2016.
  16. TAMPINES ROVERS SIGNS LOUIS CLARK FROM KAYA F.C Archived 28 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine‚ footballchannel.asia, 11 November 2016
  17. Tampines' Louis Clark out for S.League season, Madhu joins from Warriors‚ espnfc.com, 22 December 2016
  18. Worthing sign Louis Clark Archived 14 March 2017 at the Wayback Machine‚ worthingfc.com, 1 February 2017
  19. "Louis Clark | Kaya FC Academy". www.kayafcacademy.com. Archived from the original on 30 April 2015.
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