It may only be a 20-minute drive from Saltcoats to Rugby Park but for new Kilmarnock manager it has been a 30-year journey via London, Liverpool and the Midlands.

The Scottish Premiership club have hired Steve Clarke to replace outgoing boss Lee McCulloch.

The Saltcoats-born manager is returning to Ayrshire to work in Scottish football again after spending the last three decades at some of the biggest clubs in England.

From being named in Chelsea's greatest ever side to winning European trophies and league titles, we take a look at Steve Clarke's journey from Ayrshire to England and back again.

Born in 1963, Clarke began his professional career with Paisley side St Mirren, who signed him after a scout saw him play for Beith Juniors as a teenager.

He made his debut for St Mirren aged 19 in 1982 and soon established himself as a first team regular.

Playing mainly as a right-back, he could also function comfortably in the centre of defence and went on to play more than 200 first team games at the Buddies between 1982 and 1987.

In his five full seasons at Love Street, Clarke helped St Mirren establish themselves in the upper reaches of the Scottish Premier Division with three top five finishes.

St Mirren went on to win the Scottish Cup just three months after Clarke signed for English side Chelsea for a fee of £422,000 in February 1987.

A few months after signing for Chelsea, Clarke earned the first of his six Scotland caps under manager Andy Roxburgh.

He made his debut in a 2-0 friendly win over Hungary at Hampden Park.

A month later he made his competitive debut for Scotland, starting at right-back in both games of a double header against Belgium and Bulgaria in Euro 1988 qualifiers.

Scotland won both games, with a 2-0 home win against Belgium and 1-0 away victory in Bulgaria.

Injuries would mean Bulgaria was the last competitive game Clarke would play for his country, leaving him with a 100% win and clean sheet record.

A further two friendly appearances followed against Saudi Arabia and Malta in 1988 before a six-year hiatus.

He won his final cap in his one and only defeat in Scotland colours in a 3-1 loss to Holland in Amsterdam in May 1994.

Soon after signing for Chelsea, Clarke made the right-back position his own and quickly became a fans' favourite at Stamford Bridge.

Making 421 starts and scoring seven goals in an 11-year spell in London, he was part of their FA Cup winning side of 1997, collecting his first major silverware with a 2-0 victory over Middlesbrough.

The game will be remembered for Roberto Di Matteo's goal after 42 seconds, which was the quickest scored in an FA Cup Final.

The folllowing season he played the last 15 minutes of normal time and extra-time of the League Cup final as Chelsea played Middlesbrough again, this time running out 2-0 winners in extra-time after a 0-0 draw in 90 minutes.

At the end of the 1997/98 season he won win the biggest prize of his playing career in his last game as Chelsea won the last ever European Cup Winners Cup.

Clarke started the game at right-back as Chelsea defeated German side Stuttgart 1-0 in Stockholm.

He retired from football aged 35 after the final.

In 1999, Clarke was named alongside club legends like Gianfranco Zola and Ron Harris in Chelsea's centenary XI in the right-back slot.

Soon after retiring from playing, Clarke was offered a coaching role at Newcastle under his former Chelsea boss and team-mate Ruud Gullit in 1998.

He joined as assistant manager and helped take the Magpies to the FA Cup Final in his first season.

They eventually lost to treble winners Manchester United.

Things would go sour for Gullit and Clarke in their second season, however, with a run of poor results and a fallout between manager Gullit and talisman Alan Shearer.

The feud came to a head when Gullit dropped Shearer for a derby defeat to rivals Sunderland.

The Dutchman was sacked the next day and Clarke was placed in temporary charge as a caretaker manager.

He recalled Shearer to the starting line up but only lasted one game in charge, a 5-1 defeat to Manchester United.

After leaving Newcastle, Clarke returned to London to take up a role as a coach in Chelsea's youth set up.

Then in 2004 he was promoted to first team coach by new manager Jose Mourinho, who had just joined the club from European champions Porto.

It was the early days of Chelsea's ownership under Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, who was splashing the cash to herald the most successful period in the club's history.

Under Mourinho's leadership, with Clarke as assistant manager, they won two Premier League titles, two league cups and an FA Cup.

Clarke completed his pro-licence in 2006 before eventually leaving Chelsea to work with old team-mate Gianfranco Zola, who had just been appointed manager of West Ham United.

West Ham appointed Clarke as assistant manager to Gianfranco Zola in 2008.

During his time at West Ham, Clarke became the highest paid assistant manager in the league's history.

In a successful first season at West Ham, Zola and Clarke guided the Hammers to a top ten finish in the 2008/09 season.

They struggled in the second season, however, narrowly avoiding relegation. It led to Zola's dismissal and Clarke leaving his role soon after in June 2010.

The next season he joined Liverpool to be assistant manager to Kenny Dalglish, who was brought back to Anfield to replace Roy Hodgson.

The duo took Liverpool to the League Cup final of 2012, defeating Cardiff City at Wembley to lift the trophy.

After a decent start at Liverpool, the wheels began to come off as results started to turn.

Dalgish was replaced by Brendan Rodgers the following season, with Clarke leaving his position soon after.

On June 8, 2012, Clarke was handed his first ever permanent manager role when he was appointed boss at English Premier League club West Bromwich Albion.

In his first season at the Hawthorns, he guided the Baggies to their highest Premier League position, finishing 8th.

He was also in charge for a 5-5 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford in what was the final game in charge for legendary manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

The next season followed a familiar theme in Clarke's career as West Brom failed to reach the heights of the previous campaign.

He left the club halfway through the 2013/14 season with West Brom sitting in 16th position in the table and two points above the relegation zone.

After leaving West Brom he was a ppointed to his second managerial role with English Championship side Reading in December 2014.

In 2015, he took Reading to their first FA Cup semi-final in 88 years after a 3-0 win over Bradford City.

During his time at Reading he was offered the manager's job at Fulham but declined to stay on at Reading.

After a poor run of form he was sacked in December 2015 after a year in the role.

In June 2016, Clarke was appointed assistant manager to former team-mate Roberto Di Matteo at Aston Villa, who had just been relegated from the English top-flight.

Things did not go well for Di Matteo at Villa Park and the management team was replaced just four months into the league season.

Steve Bruce was brought in to Villa in October 2016, bringing in his own back-room staff and again leaving Clarke jobless.

Scottish Premiership club Kilmarnock have turned to Clarke in an attempt to rescue their season and retain their status in the Scottish top flight.

In an ambitious move that has been hailed by pundits and supporters alike, Killie see Clarke as a man with enough know-how and experience to have them competing at the top end of the Premiership again.

He attended the weekend's game over Partick Thistle and watched from the stands as his new side ran out 2-0 winners with goals from captain Kris Boyd and Adam Frizzell.

Clarke will be given a baptism of fire this month, with two trips to Glasgow within three days to play Rangers at Ibrox on the 25th before taking on champions Celtic at Celtic Park on October 28.

Kilmarnock will then finish the month with a home tie against Neil Lennon's Hibernian side at Rugby Park.