Max Clarke (Class of 2013) Head Coach at South Hobart Football Club

Posted on September 30, 2025

As Senior Academy Technical Director, South Hobart Football Club’s head coach Max Clarke (2013) assists director Ned Clarke (2011) to oversee the club’s training and operations. “We get the best out of each other,” says Max of working with his brother. “There’s no filter. You say exactly what you’re feeling.” Their stepfather, former Manchester United player Ken Morton, was the previous head coach at South Hobart. Mum, Victoria Morton, is president. “I grew up obsessed with football,” says Max. “I had every shirt.”

Max says coaching has taught him things about himself that help him off the pitch.

A knee injury in 2013 stymied Max’s future as a player; it was disappointing, but for someone who’d been coaching since he was 14, “I just thought: I’m a better coach than I am player. It was a natural progression.” He was already studying a Bachelor of Sports Coaching at Victoria University, then he attained his master’s in education and Football Australia’s ascending coaching qualifications, the C, B, and A licences. Max has coached at A-league clubs Melbourne City and Western United and moved back to Tasmania last year for the South Hobart job and to be closer to his family.

“Ned and I were so focused. People were like, ‘Come to town, come to this party,’ and we’d say, ‘No, no, we’ve got a game tomorrow.’ Mum loved it.”

At the time Max talked with The Friends’ School, South Hobart was 11 games into the 21-game National Premier League (NPL) season and had just won the Lakoseljac Cup Final. “I love to make a connection with players,” says Max of coaching. “Even if we were to win the league, I think I’d care more about: who did I help across the line? Who have I helped make a better life?” That said, he also likes the game’s tactical side. “I treat it a bit like chess: what is the other team going to do, and how can I exploit that?”

With Wayne Rooney in 2011
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