Brendan Clarke (born 17 September 1985 in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who plays for Galway United in the

League of Ireland First Division The League of Ireland First Division ( ga, Céad Roinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League First Division, is the second level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. Th ...

Club career

St Patrick's Athletic

Clarke is a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

and played schoolboy football for local side Cherry Orchard. He is one of a handful of local players to have played for St. Pats. Clarke had an extended spell in the first team at the end of the 2004 season as regular 'keeper

Chris Adamson Christopher Adamson (born 4 November 1978) is an English former football goalkeeper who played for 13 clubs in a 13-year career. Adamson is currently goalkeeping coach at Mansfield Town, as well as a coach at non-league side Bustleholme. Ca ...

's form dropped. In 2007, Clarke was sent on a season-long loan to

Waterford United Waterford Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Phort Láirge) formerly Waterford United Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Waterford who play in the League of Ireland First Division. The club was founded and elected to the ...

but was recalled before the season got underway. At the end of the 2007 season, Clarke played in the 4 of the last 5 league games. Keeping 3 clean sheets out of 4 ensuring the Saints secured

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

football in 2008. He only missed the last game of the season due to an injury during the warm-up. He had a very successful loan spell at Sporting Fingal F.C. during the 2nd half of the 2008 season. He played 14 games for Fingal, keeping 7 clean sheets. When coming back to the Saints for the 2009 season, Clarke was told by the then boss,

John McDonnell John Martin McDonnell (born 8 September 1951) is a British politician who served as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2015 to 2020. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Hayes and Harlington since 1997. ...

, that he'd be his number 1 goalkeeper for the season. McDonnell then left the club and was replaced by Jeff Kenna as manager. Kenna let goalkeeper Barry Ryan go to Galway United and replaced him with Galway keeper

Gary Rogers Gary Rogers (born 25 September 1981) is an Irish coach and former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Rogers was also called up to the Republic of Ireland national football team. He also played Gaelic football for and coached t ...

. Kenna favoured Rogers from day one and installed Rogers as his number 1 keeper. When Jeff Kenna resigned, new manager Pete Mahon came in and immediately put Clarke into the team. Clarke played in the final 10 games of the 2009 season and put in some fine performances. He kept 4 clean sheets in the 10 games including clean sheets against the Saints relegation rivals Bray Wanderers twice and

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

, and also keeping a clean sheet in the vital last game of the season against Shamrock Rovers.

Sporting Fingal

Following the 2009 season, Clarke signed a 2-year full-time contract with

Sporting Fingal Sporting Fingal Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Fine Gall Spórtúil) was an Irish association football club based in Fingal. Between 2008 and 2010, the club played three seasons in the League of Ireland. During their first two seasons they ...

, where he'd had a very successful loan spell in 2008.

Sligo Rovers

After

ceased trading Clarke's contract was cancelled and he signed for Sligo Rovers on a 1-year full-time contract on 15 February 2011. Clarke impressed immediately by saving a penalty on his debut in the 1–0 win over

Derry City F.C. Derry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Derry, Northern Ireland. It plays in the League of Ireland Premier Division, the top tier of league football in the Republic of Ireland, and is the League of Ireland ...

The Brandywell The Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium ( ga, Tobar an Fhíoruisce ) is a municipal football stadium with an adjoining greyhound racing track in Derry, Northern Ireland. It is the home ground of League of Ireland team Derry City F.C. and (tempora ...

. He followed this up by keeping 5 clean sheets in his first 6 games. He has gone on a great run and has currently kept 9 consecutive clean sheets, setting a new

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally us ...

record for consecutive clean sheets. This has helped Rovers move to the top of the

Airtricity League The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally us ...

Premier Division. Solid performances from Clarke helped Sligo to a 2nd-place finish in the league and also a cup winners medal as Sligo lifted the

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

for the second year in a row.

Return to St Patrick's Athletic

Clarke signed a contract to return to the Saints for the 2012 season on 21 December 2011. He earned his place as number one keeper ahead of Barry Murphy and kept five clean sheets in the opening eight games of the season, conceding only three goals. Clarke remained at the Saints for five seasons, in which he won the

League League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

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, the 2014 President's Cup, the

2014 Leinster Senior Cup Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unrel ...

, the 2014 FAI Cup (the club's first in 53 years), as well as the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

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and

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Limerick

On 3 December 2016,

Limerick Limerick ( ; ga, Luimneach ) is a western city in Ireland situated within County Limerick. It is in the province of Munster and is located in the Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region. With a population of 94,192 at the 2016 ...

announced via their

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account that they had signed Clarke on a 2-year contract ahead of the 2017 season. He made a total of 54 appearances in all competitions with the club, winning the supporters player of the year award for 2017, before departing in the summer of 2018 due to financial difficulties at the club.

Third Spell at St Patrick's Athletic

He returned to

St Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Lúthchleas Phádraig Naofa) is a professional Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the Irish Premier Division. Founded in May 1929, they played origin ...

for a third spell at the club, midway through their 2018 season. On 18 September 2018, he scored the first goal of his career, scoring the winner in a 2–1 win over Sligo Rovers from the penalty spot. In November 2018 he signed a new 2-year contract with the club. Despite being named the clubs Player of the Year by fans for the 2019 season, head of the 2020 season Clarke was told by manager Stephen O'Donnell that he could leave the club, however he decided to stay and fight for the starting spot with Conor Kearns and Brian Maher. By the end of the season Clarke had played every minute of every league game for the club and was voted Player of the Year for the second year running.

Shelbourne

He joined Shelbourne in November 2020 ahead of their

2021 League of Ireland First Division The 2021 League of Ireland First Division season was the 37th season of the League of Ireland First Division, the second tier of Ireland's association football league. The fixture list was released on 8 February 2021 and the competition commenc ...

season.

Galway United

On 26 November 2022, it was announced that Clarke would be joining Galway United for their 2023 campaign.

International career

He has represented the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

at schools international level and was selected as part of the

Under 23 squad to play Northern Ireland in 2008.

Personal life

In April 2020, Clarke opened up about having previously used the mental health services made available to players via the

PFAI The Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland (PFAI) is the representative body for professional and semi-professional footballers in Republic of Ireland. Players from all nationalities in the League of Ireland are represented, not just Iri ...

and urged other players to avail of the services also should they need them. Clarke was named as Chairperson of the

in September 2020, taking over from outgoing Chairperson & former teammate

, with Roberto Lopes as his vice-chairperson.

Career statistics

''Professional appearances – correct as of 26 November 2022.''

Honours

Club

;St Patrick's Athletic *

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Premier Division ( ga, Príomhroinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is the top level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland f ...

(1):

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League of Ireland Cup The League of Ireland Cup ( ga, Corn Sraithe na hÉireann), also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', is an annual knockout competition in men's football in the Republic of Ireland. It is contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited c ...

(3): 2003,

President's Cup The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a team representing the United States and an International Team representing the rest of the world minus Europe. Europe competes against the United States in a similar but considerably ...

(1):

* Leinster Senior Cup (2):

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Sligo Rovers *

(1):

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Shelbourne *

(1):

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Maynooth University (As assistant manager) *

Collingwood Cup The Collingwood Cup is an association football cup competition featuring university teams from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is organised by the Irish Universities Football Union, and is the oldest surviving all Ireland associ ...

(1): 2014

Personal

consecutive clean sheet record: 9 in 2011 with Sligo Rovers *

PFAI Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland Team of the Year (often called the PFAI Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to the group of eleven players voted by their fellow players as having perform ...

(1):

First Division (1):

*SWAI Goalkeeper of the Year (1):

Supporters Club Player of the Year: 2017 *

Player of the Year (2):

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Brendan 1985 births Living people Republic of Ireland association footballers St Patrick's Athletic F.C. players League of Ireland players Sporting Fingal F.C. players Sligo Rovers F.C. players Limerick F.C. players Shelbourne F.C. players Galway United F.C. players Cherry Orchard F.C. players Association football goalkeepers Association footballers from County Dublin