Greg Clarke labels 2022 countdown clock 'daft'

New Football Association chairman Greg Clarke has derided the countdown clock to the 2022 World Cup that his predecessor Greg Dyke had installed at St George's Park as "a joke".

The clock was erected at England's training base in Staffordshire after Dyke set the national team the target of winning the World Cup in Qatar.

But speaking at Kick It Out's 'Call Full Time On Hate' campaign, Clarke suggested time might be up for the clock.

"That clock's daft," Clarke was reported as saying in various newspapers.

"If you've seen that nuclear clock back in the Cold War, it's been one minute to midnight for the past 55 years. These things are a joke.

"I like a few jokes, I like a good laugh, so I'll go up to St George's Park and have a good laugh at the clock."

The nuclear clock Clarke made reference to is the Doomsday Clock, maintained by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. It is set closer to or further from midnight each year to reflect the perceived likelihood of "global catastrophe", and currently stands at three minutes to midnight.

Clarke officially took over as FA chairman on Friday and his comments came from his first public engagement in the role.

The former Football League chief indicated that he would have a less public profile, adding: "I am not here to build the Greg Clarke brand.

"I am here to get the stakeholders to line up and start delivering for the England national team, start delivering for the grass roots and everyone in between."