Nationality: English
Date of Birth: 26 September 1989
Previous Clubs: [None]
Position: Defender

Central defender, Ciaran Clark, is a product of Villa’s Academy, and was recently (14 June 2008) tipped by Youth Team coach, Gordon Cowans, as one of the youngsters (along with Nathan Delfouneso and Nathan Baker) most likely to break through to the senior team, having shown a lot of promise at the youth team level.

Ciaran was skipper of Villa’s successful Under 18 team in the 2007/08 season, and is also captain of the England Under 19 team.  He also broke into the Reserve team in 07/08, making 8 appearances and scoring 1 goal (in a 2-0 win over Portsmouth Reserves on 9 April 2008).

On 28 May 2008, www.avfc.co.uk reported that Academy Director Bryan Jones had spoken of his immense pride at Ciaran Clark's continued progress for club and country.

Jones is quoted as saying: "It's possibly something we haven't pushed as much as we should have done. But to be captain of England at any age group is a great achievement.  Ciaran can feel particularly pleased with his progress over the last season. He's got a tremendous attitude. When he broke his leg in his last year at school, it was a horrendous break.  Watching his first game back after recovery, which was a long process, the commitment of the boy to win the ball was just unbelievable. The courage he showed just epitomised what a lot of these young players have got."

Hopefully Ciaran will make the first team squad in the next year or two.