A quick defender, who was perhaps unlucky to be at Tottenham at the the wrong time for him, which resulted in him making only one senior appearance, even though he was in and around the first team for around four years.

Jamie Clapham was a stylish, ball-playing defender who was part of a good group of youngsters that came through the Youth set-up at the same time, but he was one who failed to make the breakthrough into the first team on a regular basis.  Enjoying getting up to support the attacks with over-lapping runs, Jamie was a live-wire up the left wing and his energy saw him able to cover the ground up and down the line.  He was farmed out to Leyton Orient and Bristol Rovers to get match experience while on loan.

Coming from a footballing family, perhaps it was no surprise that he would follow in his family footsteps.  His mother's father played for Lincoln City in the late 1940s and his own father was at Chester City and Shrewsbury Town in the 1970s.

Clapham was a player who was touted as having a future at the club, his only appearance (as a substitute replacing midfielder Andy Sinton) came in an end of season home match against Coventry, which Spurs had to win to send the Sky Blues down.  The visitors won and maintained their Premier League status for another year.  However, frustrated with the lack of opportunity at Tottenham, he initially joined Ipswich Town on loan and then permanently in for £300,000.

Five years at Portman Road saw Clapham become a fans favourite, as the club had success at home and qualifying to play in the UEFA Cup.  A good professional, his appearances were always whole-hearted and Jamie developed a good ability from dead ball situations with his left foot.  His time at Ipswich same to an end when the club was relegated and seemingly heading towards administration, the had to sell off players an got £1.3 million for the defender from Birmingham City. 

Clapham was a fixture in the team after his signing, but a series of circumstances (a hamstring injury and then suffering from shingles) kept him out for four months and he found new signings having taken his place ahead of him in the team.  Clapham was released in the summer of 2006, but managed to grab a goal for the Bluenoses just before he left ... against Manchester United of all people !!

Released by the Midlands club, it looked as though he might join Sheffield United, for who had played in a pre-season friendly and there were rumours of a return to Ipswich, but in the end, he was signed up to play a season at Wolverhampton Wanderers.  His first season went well, but he was put on the transfer list at the end of it and with nobody coming in for him, Jamie moved to Leeds United on loan for three months at the start of the campaign, but when his services were no longer required at Molineux, Ian Holloway took him to Leicester City to bolster the squad at the Walkers Stadium.  However, after 11 appearances in the Foxes team, when Holloway was dismissed, Clapham found himself without a club at the end of the 2007-08 season.

Jamie trained with West Bromwich Albion in the close season and was hopeful of getting a deal with Southend United in the summer of 2008, he was unsuccessful (the manager was looking to add some height to his defence) and played the 2008-09 season at Notts. County, where he showed his experience could be useful to a club in the bottom division.  It looked a good deal for both parties when Jamie's contract was extended until June 2010 in January 2009.

However, with money troubles hitting the Poppies and a change in management, Jamie left the club in September 2011, before moving into coaching with the youth team at Lincoln City and than as manager of Middlesbrough's Under-21 team.