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Exclusive: Clark on bridging the Tyne-Wear derby divide, playing under Kevin Keegan and Peter Reid and that infamous T-shirt incident

It took Lee Clark a while to agree to move from his beloved Newcastle United to Sunderland, as well as several bottles of champagne and a prolonged charm offensive from manager Peter Reid.

But after two successful years at the Stadium of Light, it took the midfielder “less than a minute” to become one of the most divisive figures in the club’s history.

This is the story of a player who briefly bridged the Tyne-Wear derby divide in an era when the toxicity between the two North East clubs was at its highest. One who managed to ruin it all in a moment of madness during a drunken afternoon in London.

As a Geordie who had “lived the dream” playing for Kevin Keegan, rising from the youth team to play a key role in the Newcastle side promoted to the Premier League in 1993 which went on to narrowly miss out on winning the title just three years later, Clark was about as black and white as they come.

He had been on the terraces when Keegan transformed the club as a player between 1982-84 and shed the tears of boyhood devastation when he left. To then play for his hero at St James’ Park, Clark did something every Geordie would have loved.

“It was living the dream, it really was playing for Newcastle,” said Clark, who will return from holiday in time to watch his two former clubs renew one of the bitterest rivalries in British football in the FA Cup third round this weekend.

“Everyday, it was special for me. To not only play for my club, but to be part of an era that is still classed as one of the club’s most successful. It was a brilliant time.

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