Clyde forced to retire from football

“One of the most assured debuts ever” – AWS
Northern Ireland have lost one of their brightest defensive prospects as Wolves’ Mark Clyde has been forced to retire from football at the age of 24, following a string of injuries linked to reactive arthritis.
Limavady man Clyde was thrown in at the deep end for his international debut (which would have come earlier if not for injuries) which finally happened in our 2-2 draw with Wales in the Millennium Stadium in September 2004. This was followed by an appearance in the 0-0 draw in Azerbaijan. More injuries meant that his third cap didn’t come for a further 8 months, in the 125th anniversary friendly with Germany. That turned out to be his last appearance for his country.
The following is from the Wolves site:
‘The 24-year-old defender, who has battled against injury problems for more than two years, was first diagnosed with this unusual condition after being sidelined with a swollen ankle in the pre-season of 2005.
Mark graduated from the Wolves youth team and made his senior debut in October 2002. Two years on he broke into the senior Northern Irish side but injuries – initially his knee – began to limit his appearances. He missed the whole of last term and featured in the first three games of this campaign before being forced off against Preston with a damaged shin.
“I’ve come to the decision that enough is enough,” he says. “This has been going on now for more than two years. I talked it through with the club’s physio and the doctor and they were on the same wavelength. It’s not going to go away if I carry on. But if I quit, and stop training everyday, then there’s a chance that I’ll not be as aware of the symptoms.”
Mark had hoped the problems were behind him last February when he started playing reserve team football, but more injuries followed. He adds: “I almost got back to full fitness last season and then got more problems with my hamstring and then my hip. “I was advised to take medication or stop playing altogether. I tried taking the tablets, which worked at first, but they are not having the right affect now. I made a couple of appearances at the start of this season but I’ve had one problem after another since, so this is the right decision for me.”
Mark is keen to stress his appreciation for the club’s support – and particularly that of physio Barry Holmes and doctor Matt Perry. He says: “Everybody at the club has been really decent to me – especially Baz and the Doc who have even come out to visit me in the evenings if I’ve had problems. I couldn’t have asked for any more from them. “But I’m not doing anyone any favours coming in every day and spending two hours lying on a bed in the treatment room. That’s not what I signed up to do. “I want to feel like I’m earning a living – that’s the way I’ve been brought up. “It’s annoying that I have to pack up at my age but it’s not the end of the world. I know there are plenty more people in a worse situation than me.”
Mark is now planning to take up a career in landscape gardening.
Manager Mick McCarthy expressed his sympathy and support for the defender after being told of the decision. He says: “It’s a sad day for Mark and for the club because we are losing a good player. He’s a young lad to be taking this step but I admire him for it. It’s a brave thing he’s doing but he has made up his mind that he’s not going to sit around injured but is going to go on and do something else. Fair play to him. He’s an absolutely smashing lad and everyone at the club wishes him well.”
Chief executive Jez Moxey adds: “It must have been a hard decision for someone of Mark’s age to make. He’s been with Wolves since he was 16 and has always been a very popular guy. Everyone will be sad to see him leave and will want to send him their best wishes for the future.”
Follow Clyde’s career as tracked by AWS
All the best Mark.

Clyde’s return hit by setback

What a game for your debut, eh?
From the Belfast Telegraph:
‘Mark Clyde’s injury jinx has struck again. The Northern Ireland defender was on the verge of a first-team return with Wolverhampton Wanderers a couple of weeks ago, but has now suffered a further setback. A freak training ground accident ruled him out of a reserve team game with Sunderland earlier this week and he is expected to be missing for a further week.
Clyde was struck in the face by a stray pass and suffered a partial dislocation of his jaw. The Limavady-man had been dogged by an ankle injury since pre-season and after recovering from that he suffered from a hip problem and then a dead leg.
Clyde has won just three international caps since his debut on September 2004 due to his numerous injury problems. If he can manage to force his way into the Wolves first-team between now and the end of the season the versatile defender will be in line to join Lawrie Sanchez’s squad for the tour to the United States during the last week in May.’

Clyde and Doherty set for return

Wolves defender Mark Clyde is hoping to be declared fit for this weekend’s visit of Gillingham. The Limavady born player is undergoing treatment for mild tendonitis. Clyde:
“I had the problem before I joined up with the Northern Ireland squad and they agreed that it was best if I didn’t play. I’m having some treatment and we’ll have to see a few days down the line how things are going but I’ve not been ruled out of Saturday’s game as yet.”
Good to have it confirmed that he didn’t play because of injury (which we were told at the time he’d recovered from) rather than any other reason. Speaking of the Canada game, Clyde shared the disappointment of his teammates:
“It was disappointing. We have not won at home for quite a while and the lads were all upset not to do something about that but, we play England next month and everyone is focussing on that now.”
Meanwhile, injuries to 3 Bristol City midfielders mean that out of favour Tommy Doherty may be welcomed back into the team as early as this Saturday, when his side face Colchester United. A good article on the situation in the Bristol Evening Post includes clarification from manager Brian Tinnion that he wants the 25 year old Northern Ireland midfielder to remain at the club:
“I took the captaincy away from him so that he could concentrate on regaining his fitness and form. I have never said that I want him to leave the club and he has not been placed on the transfer list.
“Obviously other clubs have got the situation wrong and asked to take Tommy on loan. But he will be staying with us. He’ll get his head down, work hard and try and get back in the team.”

Clyde and Capaldi injured – Doc recalled

Tony Capaldi’s Plymouth Argyle comeback lasted just 14 minutes as he got injured again in today’s Championship clash with Ipswich Town. Capaldi was ‘clobbered’ after 12 minutes as he put in the cross for Argyle’s opener. Plymouth made it 2-0 a minute later but Capaldi – as always playing on the left wing – couldn’t continue. Argyle went on to lose 3-2.
Another player who didn’t manage very long this afternoon was Mark Clyde. After 31 minutes of Wolves’ 3-2 defeat at home to Cardiff City, he got elbowed in the face and was ‘bloodied, groggy and clearly unable continue’. The Cardiff player only got booked.
No time for a full update tonight but 2 random facts for you: Worryingly, Aaron Hughes has been an unused substitute for Newcastle United in their last 2 matches, while Alan Blayney has made the bench for Southampton’s last 2 clashes – after his agent voiced his concern about him being 3rd choice this time round.
Next for some great news. After AWS reported about Lawrie Sanchez watching Tommy Doherty, it is being reported that he has been recalled for the matches against Azerbaijan and Austria.
Finally, there’s been a new issue of Total Football magazine out for about a week. Included is a ‘Cardiff Special’ and interviews with Aaron Hughes and Nigel Worthless, as well as other Northern Irish football goodness.

Healy on target again

David Healy scored his 2nd goal of the season, in his 2nd game last night as Preston drew 2-2 with Wolves. It was a game that Preston would undoubtedly had won if Dickson Etuhu hadn’t got himself a straight red card.
The away side started very brightly, and Healy had already hit the woodwork with 4 minutes played – he passed the rebound to Chris Lucketti who made it 1-0. Healy scored himself with just 16 minutes gone after a North End corner was pulled back to him on the right hand corner of the area and the Northern Ireland star smashed it home first time.
Wolves Boss Dave Jones had made 3 changes from the side who had played so badly on the opening day of the league season – however Mark Clyde escaped this cull, playing the first half at right back as usual and the second in the centre.
Andy Smith replaced Healy in the 88th minute and ‘held the ball up well in the corner’ – memories of Spain at Windsor Park…
Other news today:
– Apparently Thomas Mhyre still wants to leave Sunderland, which is good news for Ingham.
– JJB shops around the country are a joy to look at this morning, having made an effort for the new kit launch. If you live here, away out an buy one!

Clyde: “This is the biggest season of my career”

Ahead of Wolves’ opening league game against Stoke tomorrow, Limavady born Mark Clyde has insisted that he faces the most important season of his career, as he tries to cement his place in the Wolves’ starting XI. The 21 year old, who was prevented by an injury from making his full Northern Ireland debut last season, was being groomed to replace Dennis Irwin at right back for the club last year. Now he has to try and make the position his own:
“Without doubt this is the biggest year of my career at Wolves so far. I have got to get in the team and stay there and I am hoping it will prove to be as successful as I think it should be.
“Personally, my aim is to get a run of games under my belt. Since I have played for Wolves the longest run I have had in the side is 14 games in a row and that was when I was first selected.
“I want to try and play 30 games this season and only then can I start to call myself an established player.
“I think having a new contract will certainly help me. It was something I was looking to negotiate before the end of last season.
“I played a few games at right back and the manager said that was where he wanted me to play.
“That made the negotiations better for me because it gave to a real incentive to stay and everything soon fell into place. Both sides wanted the same thing and we came to an agreement quite quickly. The new contract gives me the stability I was looking for and means I can just concentrate on my football rather than worrying about my future.”

Clyde signs contract extension

Northern Ireland’s most talented uncapped player has signed an extension to his contract at Wolves that will keep him at the club until 2008. Clyde, 21, had only a year remaining on his current contract.
The U23 international was being prepared to replace Dennis Irwin at right back for the club last season, but a calf injury curtailed his first team appearances last season and forced him to pull out of the Northern Ireland squad for the friendly against Estonia, in which he was expected to make his full debut. The Limavady born defender can also play at centre back, and this is where I feel he should play for Northern Ireland when he finally makes his debut, with Chris Baird and George McCartney as the two full backs and Aaron Hughes alongside him in the middle.

Saturday Round Up

Today saw Andy Smith pick up an Irish Cup winners medal and various Ulstermen on the scoresheet across the water.
Smith was watched by a scout from Plymouth Argyle as he played in Glentoran’s 1-0 win over Coleraine at Windsor Park in the end of season showpiece. Many believe it will prove to be the striker’s last game for the East Belfast side, and he has been strongly linked with a move to Wimbledon over recent months. After an impressive performance as a substitute against Serbia and Montenegro on Wednesday night, Smith would have liked to have played a bit better in front of both the scout and his international manager, Lawrie Sanchez. Andy had a great chance to seal the victory in the second half but he hit his shot against Coleraine keeper Davy O’Hare when put through one-on-one.
Sanchez – who was pleased to be able to just watch a match at Windsor Park – was interviewed at half time and showed how well up he is on the Irish League and also said that the forthcoming Caribbean Tour was ‘very, very important’. The manager also said that he faces a bit of a headache in naming the reduced 20-man squad for the tour. You may have noticed that Thursday’s News Letter claimed that Northern Ireland had only scored 2 goals under Sanchez – Lawrie noticed too, and phoned the editor to put him right!
Across the water it was a sad day for Mark Clyde’s Wolves, who were relegated (well, unless they can score 30-odd goals in two games) before they even kicked off their match against Everton. Clyde was still missing through injury, but Wolves managed a 2-1 win. Wolves have finished the season strongly, and if they’d played the same way for the first half of the season (before Clyde started playing regularly ;)) they would have done well. They will be definitely highly favoured to come straight back up, and with the retirement of Dennis Irwin Clyde should quickly establish himself as a regular in the side. Keith Gillespie was an unused substitute as his Leicester side were relegated, but even if they had stayed up he would have left at the end of the season.
Ian Dowie received much praise on football phone-ins today for bringing Crystal Palace into the top six in the First Division and a playoff place. The side, with most of the same players, were 20th at Christmas but the Northern Ireland legend has turned them around and is now one of the most promising young managers around. Michael Hughes wasn’t involved in today’s 1-0 win.
David Healy may have drawn a blank on Wednesday night, but the fans’ favourite scored today as his Preston side lost 3-2 to promoted Norwich. Mulryne and McVeigh started on the bench for the home side.
Mark Williams captained his country for the second half of our draw on Wednesday night, and he headed in the equaliser today for Wimbledon as they drew 1-1 away to Cardiff.
Jeff Whitley scored for Sunderland as they drew 1-1 against Crewe Alexandra, although Steve Jones almost stole a win for the away side as he hit the post from long range late on.
Steve Lomas played again for West Ham as they beat Watford 4-0, a match in which he came up against Chris Baird, a player Lomas has yet to play with at international level due to injury.
In Division 2 Tony Capaldi (will he be playing alongside Andy Smith next season?) set up another goal from a corner in Plymouth’s 3-1 win over Hartlepool, and in the 3rd Ciaran Toner volleyed against the bar when he should have scored as Leyton Orient confirmed York City’s relegation.

Jones wants Clyde protected

It looks like Mark Clyde will be fit for Wolves’ important clash with Birmingham City this weekend.
“Clydey has a particular problem affecting the circulation to the calf area,” explained Jones today. “A couple of hours after being taken out of a game, he can be as right as rain but we are still having to nurse him through.The kid is doing a smashing job for us and is determined to play, which is half the battle. We are having to be very careful with him and give him as much rest as possible so he probably won’t rejoin training until Friday. But I’m confident he will be fit.
However the report also goes on to state Jones’ reservations about Clyde playing the full match for the U23s against Serbia Montenegro 48 hours after the Blues game and is planning to talk to Lawrie Sanchez with a view to either withdrawing him or curtailing his game time.

Update

Round up of the latest goings on in the Norn Iron scene (I’ve been away for a few days):
Mark Clyde returned to the Wolves starting line up on Saturday, and provided the cross for his side’s first goal as they defeated Middlesbrough 2-0. After the second Wolves goal had gone in, manager Dave Jones immediately brought off Clyde as he’s still not back to full fitness. Physio Barry Holmes explained on the Official Wolves site: “Although Mark has power and strength in the muscle, because it’s injured, it tires after a certain time and causes him discomfort. However, the injury is improving. He only managed half a game up at Manchester City and wasn’t fit enough to play against Bolton on Easter Monday. But on Saturday he managed an hour before the calf started to give him grief. It doesn’t stop him from training though and we are constantly monitoring his progress.”
Clyde and Wolves teammate Sammy Clingan have been called up for the U23 squad for the match against Serbia Montenegro.
Also on Saturday Aaron Hughes put in a man-of-the-match performance for Newcastle at centre back as they drew 0-0 with Aston Villa.
Birmingham’s appeal of Maik Taylor’s red card has failed and he will now have to miss the important games against Arsenal and Liverpool. Taylor’s understudy Roy Carroll suffered his first Premiership defeat on Saturday but isn’t letting it worry him too much:
“I think it’s the first time I’ve played six games in a row and I’m really enjoying it. I try not to put myself under pressure or get too nervous, I just go out there and do my job. I love playing for United and it’s up to me to keep proving myself in every game. ”We’re all looking forward to the Cup final and all the players will be working hard to keep themselves in the team between now and then”
Bristol City have spent most of today dismissing speculation that their captain, Tommy Doherty, is on his way to Southampton. Manager Steve Lansdown admitted interest in the Bristolian from higher spheres of the game would tally up, but insisted he had not had contact with the Saints. “Whether Paul Sturrock has let it slip that he is an admirer of Tommy, I don’t know. As far as I am concerned, we have had no approach from Southampton and we’re not waiting for one. I would not be surprised if anyone was casting an envious eye over Tommy. He is part of a strong squad and we want to keep it together.”
There’s also a bit more speculation about the new kit, with JJB announcing a sponsorship contract to supply and distribute team kits and official merchandise for the Irish Football Association. This (if indeed it happens) is a great move as we all know how hard it has been to purchase the top of our country in recent years. The rumours that the kit will be made by Umbro, mentioned on this site a while ago, are growing ever stronger and an announcement confirming it is expected soon.