WIN or lose today, at least Billy Clarke is only 15 minutes from home.

Clarke may share a London apartment with footballing pal Liam Trotter but wife Kate and their two boys still live in Menston.

Four months after joining Charlton, his family remain happy in West Yorkshire.

“The plan is for them to come down and I have been looking at places,” he said. “But the two boys are settled up there and the youngest has just started school.

“We just moved into the house in January and it needs a bit of work finishing first.

“But everyone is settled and when I go back, I love being back there. Everything feels like I’ve never left.”

Returning to Valley Parade this afternoon, though, is going to be strange. His departure, for a fee thought to be around £90,000, was unexpected and quick.

While Mark Marshall had time to weigh up his decision to move back to his London roots, Clarke’s switch within three weeks of City’s play-off final defeat came out of the blue – for the player as much as anyone.

He said: “There was a bit of talk throughout the season but nothing more than that. I obviously had another year on my contract at Bradford.

“It was the first week of June and I went back to Ireland for my sister’s wedding.

“My agent was on the phone saying the fee had been agreed and it was kind of ‘off you go’.

“I didn’t hear from anyone. I didn’t hear from Edin (Rahic), James Mason or the manager until about a week after and it was all done.

“I suppose if they had wanted to keep me, they would have rung and said they didn’t want to sell or whatever.

“I can understand the manager not contacting me because there was a lot of rumours about his situation at the time. I didn’t know what was going on with his side of things.

“But it was quite sudden and a big change for me. I’m looking forward to coming back because I haven’t seen anyone since I left.”

Clarke played 122 games in three years with City and scored 25 goals.

He will also be remembered for having their best chance at Wembley – only to be denied by a fantastic save from Millwall keeper Jordan Archer.

“People forget that I’d nicked the ball off them on the edge of our box,” he recalled. “To be honest, I was starting to run out of legs the last ten to 15 yards.

“I could feel the defender coming up behind me so I shifted the ball to my right foot. If I’d gone the other way, he’d have just stuck his arm out and pushed me off it.

“I did what I felt was the best thing. On another day, the keeper goes down a split second earlier and it goes over him.

“But it’s a shame if that’s what people remember me for. I was at the club for three years and every season we got better and better. To be remembered for that would be slightly harsh.

“I don’t look back with regret and think what might have happened.

“If I was to sit and think ‘what if’, I’d go back further than that and think ‘what if I didn’t get injured in the Premier League’. To me, that was a lot bigger opportunity.”

Clarke looks back on plenty of fond memories, from the FA Cup run to the play-off pushes. He pauses when asked to whittle it down to a single game.

He admitted: “There have been quite a few, if I’m honest. Leeds and Sunderland in the cup stand out and even the 3-3 with Sheffield United last year was pretty good.

“I remember going away to Rochdale early on and we had 3,000 fans there, a lot more than them. I was thinking ‘jeez, this is unreal’.

“Then going to Bury and seeing Bradford fans at both ends of the ground. That was the first time I’d experienced that.

“I don’t really have any bad memories. Everyone from the bloke on the street to Leanne, who serves the food on the training ground, was brilliant and I’ll always remember them.”

With Charlton breathing down City’s necks in the play-off places, Clarke anticipates an open contest today. He feels Valley Parade has lost its fear factor after away wins already for Blackburn and Fleetwood.

He said: “Bradford are a bit more open than they were last year. Going to Valley Parade before, nobody could win.

“But a couple have won there now and scored a few goals. It’s maybe not as daunting as it was.

“This league is anyone’s for the taking – but I can’t see Shrewsbury staying up there.

“They’ve had a great run but you look at Scunny last year and they were top until February.

“I remember Tranmere a few years ago up there until the same time and Gillingham.

“Wigan are the best we’ve played but it wouldn’t surprise me if a team like Southend, Oxford or Rotherham went on a run of five or six wins.”