Del: First, I just want to say thank you. From the very first email, your warmth and the language you used gave me such a positive feeling. Even when you stepped out of the car, I knew this was going to be a phenomenal session.
Clarke: That’s wonderful to hear, thank you. I’m very deliberate about how I communicate, whether I’m saying yes or no. I try to be kind. It’s not hard to be nice, but it can have such a big impact because you never know what someone else is going through. For me, being kind took a paradigm shift. I spent most of my life being self-centred, not maliciously, but because in professional football everything is about standing out. Your livelihood depends on it. Deeper than that, I was desperate for external validation. I needed people to love me, or at least approve of me. If someone looked at me strangely, I’d assume they disliked me. I never once considered what might be happening in their world. When you start considering other people’s perspectives, it changes everything. It makes kindness easier.
Del: Can you tell us a bit about who you are, what you’ve done and what you do now?
Clarke: I love that question. I’m a father, a husband, a friend, a brother. Those are the things that define me now. It didn’t used to be that way. I used to define myself by what I did, and I was a footballer. I retired in 2013 after 17 years as a professional, playing across all four English leagues and the Premier League. I started as an apprentice at 16 with Blackpool FC in 1996 and went on to play for clubs including Queens Park Rangers F.C., Leeds United F.C., Watford F.C., Burnley F.C., Luton Town F.C., Preston North End F.C. and others. After retiring, I moved into broadcasting, working with ITV and presenting documentaries for the BBC. During that time, I was living with severe mental health challenges that went undiagnosed for over a decade. Even after diagnosis, it took me years to take deliberate action. In 2017, after being actively suicidal and hospitalised, I made a conscious decision not just to get well, but to stay well. That distinction matters. Since then, I’ve completed a psychology degree and a master’s, and I now work in business and organisational wellbeing. I approach it like I did football, starting at the bottom and working my way up. But now I understand that work is functional. It’s there to support my family, not define me.
Del: You talk a lot about your family. It’s clearly central to who you are.
Clarke: It is. For years, I thought being a provider meant earning more, owning more, house, car, status. But what I’ve realised is that my children just want me. They won’t remember the size of a present. They’ll remember when they fell out with a friend and I sat with them. I have five children and, recently, my first grandchild. Becoming a grandad has been extraordinary. I did a night shift recently helping my daughter with the baby, and she said, “I’m seeing you more now than I have in years.” That meant everything. Presence is provision.
Del: How long have you been involved in football altogether?
Clarke: Over 30 years now. I served on the management committee of the PFA for seven years and was chairman for four. I’ve been an ambassador for Kick It Out since 2010 and worked with Show Racism the Red Card. I sit on the FA’s judicial panel and have worked with the Premier League on initiatives like Together Against Suicide. More recently, I’ve supported a community-led takeover at Blyth Spartans A.F.C., helping establish their community trust. My youngest daughter now watches their women’s team every Sunday. Football has enormous social power, tackling isolation, bringing communities together, supporting mental wellbeing. I’ll always be involved in the game, but now I’m most passionate about its power for social change.
Del: When you were PFA chairman, was mental health one of your priorities?
Clarke: Yes, but my understanding was still developing. I had made the documentary Football’s Suicide Secret, and it sparked national conversation, but I wasn’t implementing real solutions in my own life yet. I learned that you could have great intentions, but systems and power structures influence outcomes. Over 30 years, we’ve layered wellbeing initiatives onto outdated structures rather than rebuilding from scratch. Football has the resources to lead systemic change, and I believe it should.
Del: What does staying mentally well look like for you now?
Clarke: I have non-negotiables. I bookend my day with 30 minutes in the morning and 30 at night, reflection, gratitude, grounding. Sleep is essential, seven to eight hours, and my wife and I go to bed together every night. I move my body regularly, a couple of 5Ks a week, some cycling, some weights. After elite sport, I had to relearn how to exercise without tying it to performance. It’s not extreme. It’s balanced. And it works for me.
Del: Tell us something people wouldn’t know about you.
Clarke: I’ve been on three game shows and won them all: ‘Britain’s Brainiest Footballer’, ‘Countdown’ and ‘The 1% Club’. I’m the only person to have won the full £100,000 on ‘The 1% Club’ it was actually £101,000, because I didn’t use my pass. And I’m very good at knitting. I once knitted an eight-foot gown out of ripped-up suits using carved cricket stumps as needles. My girlfriend got a first-class degree. I got nothing!
Del: You’ve been very open about your struggles. Can you talk about that journey?
Clarke: At 21, after a catastrophic knee injury at QPR, my identity collapsed. I drank heavily. I took an overdose. The club told me not to tell anyone. For years, I cycled through depression, masking it with alcohol and gambling. Even after diagnosis, I resisted treatment. In 2014, I stepped in front of a lorry on the A64. I survived without a broken bone. That survival felt like failure at the time. The turning point came in 2017, when two strangers, grieving their own friend’s suicide, refused to leave me alone when I was suicidal in a park. I entered NHS care, began cognitive analytical therapy, and for the first time understood my thinking patterns. I realised I had agency. That changed everything.
Del: You talk about having a “council” around you.
Clarke: Yes, trusted people I can speak to honestly. My family, close friends, professionals. But networks evolve. People pass away. Life changes. So, you must consciously rebuild support. We’ve also learned to say, “I just need you to listen,” or “I need your advice.” That clarity prevents resentment.
Del: For someone struggling and not reaching out, what would you say?
Clarke: Tell someone. And ideally, make that first someone a professional.
Your partner or friend is invested in your happiness, not necessarily your wellness. A trained professional responds differently. Call a helpline. Use an Employee Assistance Programme. Text if you can’t call. Get a qualified response first. Then build outward.
