Ipswich Town Born in
Cork, Clarke is a product of the
Ipswich Town Academy and signed professional for the club in May 2005. He made his professional début as a substitute against
Cardiff City in late November 2005. He won the
Irish Examiner Junior Sports Star of the year award for Soccer in 2005 and was nominated for the Irish Under-19 Player of the Year award in 2006. He also made a big contribution to Ipswich's youth team in winning the
FA Youth Cup in 2005. At the end of the 2005–06 season he was sent on loan to
Colchester United to gain first team experience, playing six league games. During the January 2008 transfer window, he joined Scottish side
Falkirk on loan. He scored his first goal, a late winner, in a crucial match against
Inverness Caledonian Thistle. After returning to Ipswich Clarke scored his first league goal in the 2–1 victory over
Southampton and followed it up three days later with the winning goal in the 2–1 victory over
Coventry City. He also scored in a 3–1 victory over
Southend United. Clarke was transfer-listed and on 8 August 2008 went to
Darlington on one month's loan, which was extended to January 2009. He scored four times against
Macclesfield Town on 30 August 2008. He also scored a vital goal in the
League Cup against
Walsall, knocking the
League One side out of the cup. He joined
Northampton Town on a month's loan in January 2009. He scored a hat-trick on his debut in a 5–1 victory over
Crewe Alexandra. It was the first hat-trick scored by a
Cobblers player since 2002. Clarke joined
Brentford on loan in the run-in to their attempt to win promotion out of
League Two. He was recruited mainly to cover for the absence of fellow Ipswich loanee
Jordan Rhodes, who was injured. Clarke scored his first goal for
the Bees in the 1–1 draw at
Bradford City. He ended his loan spell scoring six goals in eight games. While at Brentford, he scored twice against former club Darlington in the game that Brentford clinched the league two title. He had scored 18 goals overall during his three loan spells that season with Darlington, Northampton and Brentford. He was nominated twice during the season for the League Two Player of the Month. Clarke was released by new Ipswich manager
Roy Keane on 8 May 2009.
Blackpool On 26 June 2009, Clarke signed for fellow
Championship side
Blackpool on a two-year contract with an option for a further year; his contract starting on 1 July, once his Ipswich contract expired. Clarke said of the move, "It happened very quickly. I met the manager (
Ian Holloway) on Tuesday and I had my medical this morning. I am delighted to be here and I can't wait for the season to start," adding "It is brilliant for me to be still playing in the Championship. His first game for
the Seasiders was a pre-season
friendly against
non-league side
Burscough on 11 July. Two days later he scored the second goal as Blackpool beat
Barnstaple Town 5–0 in a 2009 South West Challenge Cup group stage match. On 8 August Clarke made his league début as a 73rd-minute substitute as Blackpool started the 2009–10 season with a 1–1 draw with
Queens Park Rangers at
Loftus Road. He scored his first goal for
the Seasiders in a 4–3 defeat to
Stoke City at the
Britannia Stadium in the
third round of the
2009–10 League Cup on 22 September. During pre-season for the
2010–11 season, which was Blackpool's début in the
Premier League, Clarke suffered a knee injury that would, it was initially thought, keep him out of action for three months; however, on 26 July it was revealed that Clarke had ruptured his right anterior cruciate ligament and could miss the whole campaign. This was confirmed when, on 2 February 2011, he was left out of Blackpool's 25-man squad for the remainder of the campaign. The club exercised a third year option on Clarke's contract, keeping him in the squad for the 2011–12 season. With first team opportunities proving limited Clarke agreed a month's loan to
Sheffield United in October 2011, going on to make five appearances and score one goal for the
South Yorkshire club.
Crawley Town On 31 January 2012, Clarke joined League Two club Crawley Town for an undisclosed fee. The signing of Clarke was seen as a signal of intent from Crawley, who beat off the interest of several other clubs. Crawley boss Steve Evans called Clarke a wonderful signing. Clarke featured as a regular first team player in both 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 seasons and missed a number of games due to injury. He won Player of the Year award in the 2012–13 season, scoring 14 goals in League One for Crawley. He scored 7 goals for Crawley in the 2013–14 season.
Bradford City Clarke signed for
Bradford City in June 2014 on a two-year deal. He made his debut on 9 August in a 3–2 win against
Coventry City at
Valley Parade, assisting
James Hanson's opening goal of the game.
Charlton Athletic Clarke signed for
Charlton Athletic in June 2017 on a two-year deal. He scored his first goal for Charlton in a 2-1
EFL Cup win against
Exeter City on 8 August 2017. In May 2019, following Bradford City's relegation to League Two, it was announced that he would leave the club upon the expiry of his contract on 30 June 2019, one of 11 players to be released. He did not find a new club for the start of the 2019–20 season, but trained with Bolton Wanderers. In September 2019 he said that he was still looking for a new club, after the move to Bolton fell through following the departure of manager Phil Parkinson, and also said that he was missing playing. He still worked at Bradford City as a part-time under-15s coach, two nights a week. On the 11 January 2020 Clarke, makes his debut for Grimsby Town FC against Leyton Orient, after coming on for Ahkeem Rose in 63rd minute, He subsequently scored minutes later to make the score 1–0.
Third spell at Bradford City Clarke re-signed for Bradford City on a one-year deal on 16 July 2020. On 12 May 2021 he was one of nine players that Bradford City announced would leave the club on 30 June 2021 when their contracts expire. ==International career==