Rochdale, where he made 12 appearances, scoring one goal. He was released by Hartlepool manager Danny Wilson in May 2007. Salisbury City On 3 July 2007 he signed for newly promoted Conference Premier club Salisbury City. He was strongly influenced by former teammate Tommy Widdrington to make the switch south, and was the third signing made by Nick Holmes. He helped the club avoid relegation in the 2008–09 season, which was a good achievement for the club. At the beginning of the 2009–10 season he became Salisbury's most senior player and was duly given the captain's armband by Widdrington, who had recently been appointed manager. He captained the club to a mid-table finish, however, Salisbury were demoted down into the Southern League Premier Division as punishment for their severe financial problems. He also spent his spare time coaching the under-8s at Portsmouth. Management career Salisbury City In July 2010, Tommy Widdrington left Salisbury City for the job of assistant manager at Southend United. As a result of this, Clarke became joint caretaker manager beside Mikey Harris. The next month he was made player-manager on a permanent basis, with Harris as his assistant. He needed to secure an immediate promotion in order to maintain the funding to keep the club a full-time professional organisation and so recruited young players freshly released from Football League clubs. However he lost top-scorer Matt Tubbs, who was sold for a club record £55,000 to Crawley Town. After his first season, the "Whites" won promotion from the Southern League Premier Division via the play-offs, winning 3–2 on penalties after a 2–2 draw with Hednesford Town. Clarke led Salisbury to the Second Round of the FA Trophy in his second season in charge. He also made history when his side beat Grimsby Town in the FA Cup Second Round, taking Salisbury to the Third Round of the FA Cup for the first time in the club's history, where they faced Sheffield United at Bramall Lane. At the start of the campaign he had stated his intention to sign promising young players, and during the January transfer window he signed 19-year-old Matt Clark and former England youth player Abdulai Bell-Baggie, as well as 29-year-old striker Robbie Matthews. However, he also placed winger Charlie Knight on the transfer list along with striker Jake Reid, defender Josh Casey, and winger Adam Kelly. They finished the 2011–12 campaign comfortably in tenth