Name: Ray Clarke
Nickname: "King of Ajax"



Country: England
Club: AFC Ajax
Number: 7
Position: *CF
Side: RF/BS
Age: 26-27 years (25/09/1952)

Height: 180 cm
Weight: 73 kg

Attack: 83
Defence: 40
Balance: 81
Stamina: 79
Top Speed: 78
Acceleration: 77
Response: 86
Agility: 77
Dribble Accuracy: 73
Dribble Speed: 72
Short Pass Accuracy: 74
Short Pass Speed: 73
Long Pass Accuracy: 69
Long Pass Speed: 73
Shot Accuracy: 84
Shot Power: 80
Shot Technique: 85
Free Kick Accuracy: 62
Swerve: 68
Header: 90
Jump: 85
Technique: 74
Aggression: 84
Mentality: 83
Keeper Skills 50
Team Work: 76

Injury Tolerance: B
Form/Condition/Fitness: 6
Weak Foot Accuracy: 5
Weak Foot Frequency: 5
Consistency: 6
Growth Type: Standard


CARDS:
S01 - Marauding
S04 - PK Taker
P19 - Fox in the Box

SPECIAL ABILITIES: Positioning - Reaction - Scoring - Post Player - Penalties

Attack/Defence Awareness Card: Attack Minded


INFO:
Ajax’s ONLY ever English player, who became hero by winning the double. Famous banners behind the goal - "Ray Clarke - King of Ajax"
A profilic goalscorer, very strong in the air, just a fantastic leap, would also score with diving headers. Successor of Ruud Geels & penalty kick taker at Ajax. Not so skillful with the ball, he could sometimes keep it and distribute on the side. Not too strong in duels although he possessed a decent strenght, but a lurking and opportunistic type of striker. Not at all flash, just a sound, straightforward, target man.

He made only 1 cap for Tottenham, before moving for one season to Swindon and establishing himself at Mansfield Town - scoring 30 goals in 53 appearances in all competitions as he was named in the PFA’s divisional Team of the Year (59 goals in 111 matches in total). Going Dutch, moving to Sparta Rotterdam, Clarke netted 35 times in 65 Eredivisie matches prompting then-manager Cor Brom to take the striker with him to Ajax when he landed the top job at the Amsterdam club in the summer of 1978. The forward only spent one season at De Meer but became a cult hero amongst Ajax supporters, scoring 38 goals in 44 matches as the Amsterdamers won both the Eredivisie title and the KNVB Cup in 1978/79. After a shocking move and a brief spell with Brugge, Clarke returned to England to play for Brighton & Hove Albion and Newcastle United before hanging up his boots in 1981.

When the Ajax board controversially decided to sell him to fund the arrival of new players, Johann Cruyff, no less, had this to say: “Those people who wanted to sell Ray Clarke don’t understand that Clarke could take away two or sometimes three defenders on his own because of his vision. The board should have seen Clarke as a goalscorer or a playmaker. He made sure that Tahamata and Ling could play well – and he still scored 30 goals in one season.”

Although Ray Clarke may not have been the highest goalscorer in Ajax history or even their greatest striker, what endeared Clarke to Ajax fans was the importance of his goals. Clarke was a player who never went missing in a big game and his performances were the key to ensuring trophies for Ajax.