Matthew is kindly sponsored by SHELF BANTAMS

Matthew joined Bradford City on a free transfer from Darlington in July 2006, wanting a return to his native West Yorkshire.

He began his career at Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1998, before joining Halifax Town the following year.

The Leeds-born player joined the Shaymen as a striker, but was transformed into a centre half.

His form at centre half earned him a move to Darlington. At Darlington, Clarke made over 160 appearances for the Quakers and scored 13 goals, as well as captaining the side for prolonged periods of time.

Clarke ended his four year association with Darlington in 2006 when he moved to Valley Parade.

The start to his Bantams career was injury plagued and Clarke was in fact loaned back to the Quakers for a month to regain some fitness.

He returned to Valley Parade to make his Bantams debut on 5th December 2006, but still found regular first team opportunities hard to come by.

Under the guidance of new manager Stuart McCall, the 2007/08 season saw Clarke featured more heavily in the make up of the club's first team. Clarke scored his first goal for the Bantams during the club's two nil win at Accrington Stanley in January 2008, some 17 months after originally signing for the club.

A medial ligament injury sustained in February ruled the giant defender out for the remainder of that season, but he continued his stay at the club by signing for a further season in the summer.

The following season saw Clarke form a solid defensive partnership with new skipper Graeme Lee to help keep Bradford in the promotion picture for the majority of the season.

Clarke agreed to extend his Bantams career into its fourth campaign by signing a new one year extension in June 2009.