Feb. 12, 2009
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame men’s soccer head coach Bobby Clark saw his 38-year British record for consecutive scoreless minutes snapped by Manchester United’s Edwin Van der Sar on Sunday (Feb. 9). Clark went 1,155 minutes without allowing a goal while playing with the Aberdeen Dons during the 1970-71 Scottish first division season.
Van der Sar eclipsed Clark’s mark by shutting out West Ham United to stretch his scoreless minutes streak to 1,212. Coincidentally, Manchester United head coach Sir Alex Ferguson was Clark’s coach with the Dons when he established the record back in the `70s.
Clark finally conceded a goal on January 16, 1971, when Pat Stanton scored for Hibernian at Easter Road in what was a 2-1 loss for Aberdeen. However, Aberdeen still would go on to capture the league title that season. Clark enjoyed a distinguished professional career in the Scottish League making more than 800 first-team appearances, 696 of which were with Aberdeen. He also was involved in three of Scotland’s World Cup appearances as a player in 1970, 1974, and 1978.
Clark recently finished his eighth season at Notre Dame and guided the Irish to their second straight BIG EAST regular-season title and the program’s eighth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. The two-time BIG EAST Conference Coach of the Year has led the Fighting Irish to the only two NCAA Championship quarterfinal appearances in program history (2006 & 2007). Clark steered Stanford University to a runner-up finish at the 1998 NCAA Tournament.
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