.... AND PLAYING A SIMILAR TOON IS BOBBY CLARK
WHEN a Birmingham City scout spotted a seven-year-old called Bobby Clark playing for a local village team, he had a shock when the identity of the lad’s father was revealed.
It was the manager of Birmingham, Lee Clark – the former Newcastle United midfielder who had been part of Kevin Keegan’s ‘Entertainers’ of the 90s.
Clark Jnr, 17, is part of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool squad now, with predictions at Anfield of a huge future. He made his debut coming off the bench in the 9-0 thrashing of Bournemouth, and dad Lee said: “That surpassed anything in my own career in terms of how proud I was.
“Bobby received fantastic coaching at Birmingham, especially from Karl Hooper with the Under-7s and Under-8s.
“When I lost my job there, Birmingham allowed Bobby to move without compensation clauses, back up to the north east with his family. He trained with Newcastle, Sunderland and
Middlesbrough. He chose Newcastle.”
But the dream of seeing his son, a skilful wide-running player, follow him into Newcastle’s first team, never materialised.
Clark Snr revealed: “I was working abroad. I knew things weren’t going particularly well at Newcastle. The relationships had broken down a little bit.
“Out of four or five options, Bobby chose Liverpool.
“Given the strides he has made in a short period, the standard of the coaching, the quality of the people in the club, the quality of the players around him, the first-team lads who have been so good to him – it’s been the perfect choice.
“They think highly of him. There’s always a clear pathway for young players at Liverpool.
“Despite the massive expectation to win the biggest trophies, Jurgen has been prepared to give the kids a chance. It’s an inspirational club.”