An interview with Brendan Clarke
An interview with Brendan Clarke
Clarke, a former St. Pats Athletic and Sporting Fingal goalkeeper, joined Sligo Rovers as a direct replacement for Richard Brush. The keeper is keen on making the number 1 jersey his own, but has a big task on his hands to take Ciaran Kelly's place in the team.
Photo courtesy of Shane Murray
First of all Brendan, thanks for taking the time to do this interview.
"No worries mate. Anytime."
Who were your inspirations in football growing up ?
"There were loads, to be honest. I used to watch Match of the Day every saturday and in every game there'd be a player where you'd say "I wish I could grow up to be like him". If I'd to pick one particular player I'd go with Shay Given. We don't have alot of players from this country that you could say are 'world class' but he is definitly one of them."
You were part of the Fingal squad that played in European football last summer, are you looking forward to the experience again ?
"I can't wait for it, It was an incredible experience last year against Maritimo. Something which I'll never forget. Its such a different style of play in the Europa League so I'm definitly looking forward to forward to helping Rovers in Europe."
Who is the toughest striker you've had to play against ?
"Jason Byrne, he's such a clever player. Makes great runs and is a great finisher."
Who's the best penalty taker in training ?
"We've not done any penalties in training but since Eoin Doyle is the only player in the current squad to have scored a pen in the Aviva I'll go with him."
Was the fact Alan Kirby now plays here play a role in your decision to move here ?
"I've known Kerbatov for a few years know and spoke with him before coming up here. He couldn't of sold the club any more to me. I know what a good professional he is and for him to be impressed with the training and the players I knew I was onto a good thing. To be hinest even if Kirbs wasn't here I'd still of jumped at the chance to play for such a massive club like Sligo."
If not a footballer, what would you be ?
"I'm like to do a little bit of design work for a couple of my friends, leaflets, posters etc. so I'd probably be doing something in graphic design."
Who is the joker of the dressing room ?
"There's a few who like to think they're jokers but the stand out one for me so far has been Danny Ventre. He always seems to be hyper."
Evan Cawley asks:
Did you feel with such poor attendances, Fingal going bust was going to happen sooner or later ?
"I don't think the club had banked on the income from attendances to pay the bills. Even though the numbers were small we had a loyal bunch of fans and numbers were growing year on year, but thats not my concern now. I'm a Sligo Rovers player now and my plan is to play my heart out every time I pull on a Rovers jersey."
A number of your former Fingal team-mates stayed in Dublin, why did you choose to come to Sligo ?
"On the Wednesday that our contracts were terminated at Sporting Fingal I had spoken to a couple of managers before Paul Cook phoned to ask me to come down for a couple of days training. As soon as I got that phone call there was only one place I wanted to play my football in 2011. Sligo Rovers is a huge club and one who try to play football the right way. As a player you want to be playing at the highest level possible and challenging for trophies year on year. At this point in my footballing career it was a no brainer to come to Sligo."
David Willis asks:
Are you looking forward to the new season ?
"I can't wait for it. It's been a crazy last month for me, as you can imagine, and now I can settle down and concentrate on playing football".
What are your expectations for 2011 ?
"Personally, I want to get into the starting 11, nail down the number 1 shirt and keep clean sheets. Fot the team, I expect us to challenge for honours in every competition that we're involved in. From the Connacht Senior Cup to progression in the Europa League."
Who was your favourite League of Ireland player last season ?
"Favourite player to play with was Ger O'Brien, I couldn't count the number of times his reading of the game prevented me from been busier in games.
Favourite player overall.... there's no competition, Joseph N'do. When Joey's in the mood he's unplayable. That trick he did against UCD was ridiculous. Only he could try, and pull off, something like that.
