Career
As a player he was a defender from 1981 to 2001. He most notably played for Nottingham Forest and Leeds United. He also played for Tottenham Hotspur, Bolton Wanderers, N ottinghamshire County and York City.
He was capped 7 times by the England U21 side.
Forest however allowed the defender"s contract to expire and he had his pick of clubs. Having made 134 appearances and scored 2 goals for Forest, he moved to Tottenham Hotspur in June 1987, with the transfer fee set by tribunal at £387,000.
Fairclough proved to be a solid and reliable centre-back, being an ever present throughout the 1987-1988 season. The 1988-1989 season however was blighted by injury for Fairclough and he only 20 made league appearances.
Fairclough was capped seven times at under-21 level for England during the 1980s, but never played for his country at senior level
After failing to reclaim his place in Terry Venables" team, Fairclough joined Leeds United on loan in March 1989. In the summer of 1989 he made the move permanent, moving for a fee of £500,000. However he eventually lost his place in the side and moved to Bolton Wanderers in July 1995 for the same fee he joined the club for, having made 240 appearances scoring 23 goals.
Over a period of three years he made 106 appearances scoring 8 goals.
He joined Bolton on their promotion to the Premier League, and although he was unable to keep them there, he helped them return at the first attempt by winning the Division One title in 1997 with 100 goals and 98 points, though again they were ultimately relegated from the Premier League after just one season. He had a spell at N ottinghamshire County (1998–1999, scoring once against his soon to be employers, York City) before joining York City in 1999 where he stayed until he retired in 2001.
He now lives outside Nottingham and worked for Nottingham Forest as an assistant first team coach having previously coached the under-17 team He left in June 2011 when his contract was terminated by the club following the departure of Billy Davies.
In July 2012 he was appointed as Professional Development Phase Coach (U16-U18) at Charlton Athletic.
Leeds United Bolton Wanderers.