Former Wolves, Coventry City and QPR striker retires at 39

Former Wolves striker Leon Clarke has announced that he is calling time on his career as a football as he moves in to coaching.

The 39-year-old will now focus on coaching after calling time on his playing career. He spent the last few years of his career playing in the non-league for Rushall Olympic, Kettering Town and then his last club Mickelover.

Posting his announcement on Instagram, he had a video compilation of all of his goals with Sheffield United featuring heavily after helping them to promotion twice in 2017 and in 2019.

In a message to his followers, he said: "20 years in the game, 23 clubs. This is my official retirement its time to put the gloves away. Thank you to everyone that’s supported me throughout my career. The future for me is still in the game but this time as a coach.”

In a 21-year playing career, Clarke began at Molineux and spent three seasons as a senior player at the club. He had three loan spells at Kidderminster Harriers, QPR and Plymouth Argyle before leaving permanently in 2006 for Sheffield Wednesday. Clarke did return in 2014, joining from Coventry City and he over two spells he ended up scoring 18 goals in 114 appearances in the gold and black.

Across the professional game, he scored a total of 153 goals in 522 appearances, playing across the top four divisions of professional football in England. He was most prolific when playing in League One, getting 78 goals in 170 games compared to his 60 in 285 Championship matches.

The other clubs he played the most at was Sheffield United, netting 32 goals for the Blades as he went from League One to the Premier League. He had three-and-a-half seasons at Sheffield Wednesday and got 18 goals playing for the Owls. Other teams included Bury, Wigan Athletic, Chesterfield, QPR, Southend United and Scunthorpe United.