Matthew Edward Barkell Clarke

Matt Clarke has now been at Derby County twice. The defender first arrived on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion and was named the club's Player of the Year for 2019–20. He came back on a permanent basis in January 2025, signing a contract until 2028, and was voted Derby's Player of the Year for 2025–26.

His route there was unusual. Clarke began at Ipswich Town, where he made four first-team appearances, before moving to Portsmouth in July 2016. The deal was a complex one: Ipswich paid around £750,000 for Adam Webster, and Clarke went the other way permanently.

Portsmouth were where he established himself. He won the League Two title in 2016–17, and was Portsmouth's Player of the Season in both 2017–18 and 2018–19. The second of those seasons also brought a place in the PFA League One Team of the Year. In 2019 he was named Man of the Match in the EFL Trophy final win.

That form led to Brighton & Hove Albion, who signed him in June 2019 for a fee reported at between £3 million and £3.5 million. He did not play a first-team game for them. He spent two seasons on loan at Derby, then a third at West Bromwich Albion, where he won the Player of the Season award. A hamstring injury in August 2021 and a head injury in November 2021 interrupted that spell.

Middlesbrough signed him in August 2022 for a reported £2.5 million on a three-year contract. A back injury kept him out for much of his first season there. In December 2023 he conceded a penalty against Leeds United seconds after coming on as a substitute.

Clarke has played for England at youth level, including the under-21s, but has no senior cap. In January 2026 he was sent off for a second bookable offence against Charlton Athletic and served a one-match suspension.