Wayne was the youngest of five footballing Clarke brothers and followed brother Allan to City in June 1989 from Everton, being part of the £250,000 that saw Mike Newell move in the other direction to Goodison Park.

The striker started his career at hometown club Wolves before making the short trip to Birmingham City and then Everton, where he contributed to their 1987 title triumph. However, he started to drop down the pecking order with the Toffees and moved to City in search of more first-team action. He made an instant impression, scoring once on his debut away at Hull City in August 1989 but it proved to be his only league goal in 11 league appearances for the club.

His time at Filbert Street wasn't helped by an injury which kept him sidelined for some time, but when he returned to full fitness he hardly had time to make an impact as Howard Kendall bought the striker for a second time, this time at Manchester City. David Oldfield moved to Leicester as part of the deal. His quest for regular first team football continued to be a struggle at Maine Road but he was a key figure in latter spells for Walsall and Shrewsbury Town.

After his footballing career, reports said he went on to be a postman and then a sales executive for Coca-Cola.