Mattie Clarke (1922 – 6 January 1960) was a

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

. Born 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 ...

, Clarke was a product of

Drumcondra F.C. Drumcondra Football Club is an Irish association football club based in Drumcondra, Dublin. Once one of the most successful clubs in Ireland in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, with a strong rivalry with Shamrock Rovers since the 1920s, they fell ...

He played for his country at youth level against England in 1938. Shortly after he joined

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

where he spent 12 seasons as a defender. However, he joined Rovers as a striker and scored a hat-trick in one of his first games for the club. He played nine times for the

League of Ireland XI The League of Ireland XI, more recently referred to as the ''Airtricity League XI'' for sponsorship reasons, is the representative team of the League of Ireland, the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. For much of its ...

while at

Glenmalure Park Glenmalure Park, often simply known as Milltown, was a football stadium on the Southside of Dublin city in Ireland. Located in the suburb of Milltown, it was home to Shamrock Rovers from 1926 to 1987, when it was sold to property developers ...

. He won his one and only senior cap for

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

on 10 May 1950 in a 5–1 defeat to Belgium in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

. In the 1950–51 season Clarke was awarded a testimonial for his twelve years service at Milltown. He then moved to

Dundalk F.C. Dundalk Football Club ( ; ga, Cumann Peile Dhún Dealgan) is a professional association football club that competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division, the top tier of football in the Republic of Ireland. The club is based in Dundalk ...

He signed for

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 ...

in August 195

His son Jackie Clarke (footballer), Jackie played for the Hoops in the 1970s.

Honours

Shamrock Rovers *

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 ...

: 1938–39 *

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 ...

: 1939–40, 1943–44, 1944–45, 1947–48 Dundalk * FAI Cup:

1952 Events January–February * January 26 – Black Saturday in Egypt: Rioters burn Cairo's central business district, targeting British and upper-class Egyptian businesses. * February 6 ** Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, becomes m ...

Sources

* ''The Hoops'' by Paul Doolan and Robert Goggins () https://www.dundalkfcwhoswho.com/player.php?id=119 {{DEFAULTSORT:Clarke, Mattie 1922 births 1960 deaths Association footballers from County Dublin Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football forwards Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Ireland (FAI) men's international footballers Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players Waterford F.C. players League of Ireland players League of Ireland XI players Drumcondra F.C. players