The Baller League soon kicks off and a player who repeatedly drew the ire of Alan Shearer towards the end of his Newcastle United playing days is set to take part.
Football comes in all shapes and sizes and the novel Baller League looks set to take the sport in a bizarre new direction.
Imagine the classic Masters League but with younger players joining forces with Premier League legends add in some off-the-wall rules and you get the Baller League.
Spearheaded by social media star KSI, the Baller League will feature a host of famous faces either playing or managing one of the 12 teams.
Alan Shearer is joining forces with Micah Richards and Gary Lineker to manage Deportrio, while Maya Jama, Robert Pires, Luis Figo, Dave, Ian Wright and ‘Angry Ginge’ are just some of the names in charge of other sides.
Ex Premier League names who will be playing include Jordon Ibe, Bakary Sakho, Henri Lansbury and former Newcastle United defender Ciaran Clark, whose time at St. James’ Park did not end well.
Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images
Ciaran Clark’s controversial red cards ended his Newcastle career
Clark was a well-liked player at Newcastle for years after joining the club from Aston Villa in 2016 but things went wrong towards the end of 2021.
The Irishman had signed a new contract at the start of the year but poor performances began to plague Clark in the 2021/22 season.
MORE NEWCASTLE STORIES
Shearer’s first criticism towards Clark came in early November when he lambasted a tackle he’d made in a match against Brighton that led to them scoring a penalty.
On Match of the Day, he said: “First of all, it’s a stupid challenge from Clark, he should never make that challenge there, but I think Trossard knows what he’s doing.”
Towards the end of the month, Shearer blasted Clark again after he got himself sent off after just nine minutes in a massive clash with relegation rivals Norwich City, a match that thankfully ended 1-1.
Yet, the Newcastle legend still couldn’t believe what he saw and said on Amazon Prime: “He could have cost them big time tonight.
“Just when you’re wanting a cool, calm performance, he makes an error which okay, you can sort of accept, but then to do what he did and drag him down was madness.
“I don’t know what he’s thinking. Just let him go through, try and let the goalkeeper do his job. The goalkeeper saved a one-on-one in the second half, so he might have saved that.
“If you go one nil down then at least you’ve still got the 11 vs 11, you’ve got the chance to get back into the game. But I just thought it was a crazy, stupid decision from Clark.”
Many called for Clark not to play again and in his next game back in late December, against Manchester City, he put in another howler. Shearer told the BBC: “The way Newcastle defended – if it wasn’t my team I’d say it’s laughable, but it’s anything but that.
“It’s so bad it wouldn’t happen in an under-10s game. You can see Clark, for whatever reason, decides to leave it. Take control, get rid of the ball, do whatever you have to do. Just don’t do this. You cannot leave that ball, it’s simple.”
Clark’s Newcastle career would come to an end the following month when he was sent off after a physical altercation with Al-Ittihad forward Abderazak Hamdallah in a friendly in Saudi Arabia.
Though Clark and Hamdallah made amends by swapping shirts after the game, he never played for the Toon again.
What is the Baller League?
The Baller League is an experimental six-a-side indoor football competition that combines former Premier League professionals, semi-pros, futsal players and social media personalities in its 12 teams.
After starting in Germany to surprising success, the Baller League is launching in the UK for the first time on March 24 with YouTube star KSI headlining the project.
The games will last for 30 minutes, there are rolling subs from the 12-man squads, no corners and a final four play-off will determine the winner once the campaign has concluded.
In an additional twist, different rules – such as goalkeepers not using their hands and long-range shots counting as double – are added in the final three minutes of each half. Sky Sports will televise the tournament.
Clark will be playing for Luis Figo’s FC Trebol, while Michael Ndiweni, a former youth player who left the club in 2024, represents FC Rules the World.