Iconic ladies footballer in quest to break new ground

Talking Sport with Stephen Glennon

When the Galway Sport Stars Committee compiles its roll-call of the county’s top living sporting icons to mark the awards 50th anniversary in the coming weeks, one name sure to be vying for inclusion on that prestigious list will be that of Kilkerrin/Clonberne ladies footballer Annette Clarke.

As captain of the Tribeswomen’s All-Ireland winning senior team which claimed the Brendan Martin Cup in 2004 – the county’s sole success at that level – Clarke was not only ‘Player of the Match’ in that famous win over Dublin, but was also honoured as an All-Star and Ladies Footballer of the Year in 2004.

An All-Star winner again last year – and once more on the nominee list for 2014 – the Galway midfielder has pretty much been recognised as the spiritual leader of the game in the county for almost two decades. Yet, at the age of 33, her passion for the game remains undiminished.

This Sunday, she seeks to add another line to her notable résumé when she leads out her native club against arguably the greatest club side ever in Cora Staunton’s Carnacon of Mayo in the Connacht senior decider. Facing the five-time All-Ireland and reigning club champions, these are the days Clarke relishes.

“We will be going in as underdogs but our girls are so hungry for success. Of course, we have to look at Carnacon but more so look at ourselves and see what we can do best. We are not just there to make up the numbers and Carnacon know that as well. That we are going there to achieve a Connacht title.”

She says that she hopes that does not sound too “cocky” – it’s not her way – but it does underline the driving ambition she has to feed the hunger within. It’s what marked her out as a class apart long before Clarke – also a noted soccer player – captained Galway to Croke Park glory in 2004.

Indeed, by the time she won her Connacht and All-Ireland senior medals that year – the squad celebrate the 10-year reunion of those victories this weekend – she had won Division 2 National League and All-Ireland junior crowns with Galway in 2002 to add to the O’Connor Cup she secured with Sligo IT in 2000.

She also had three county senior medals (1996, ’97 and ’99) to her name with Kilkerrin/Clonberne along with winning – and again captaining – her club to Connacht and All-Ireland intermediate titles in ’99. For a club that was only set up in the early 1990s, that later feat was particularly impressive.

“The rule had come in around 1999 that because Galway had not a senior county team, the senior clubs could play in the intermediate championship. So, we played in the intermediate championship in Connacht that year,” explains the three-time Galway County Sports Star award winner (’99, ’04 and ’13)

After defeating rivals St. Brendan’s in the county final, Kilkerrin/Clonberne then accounted for Padraig Pearses of Roscommon and Aughawillan of Leitrim in the Connacht semi-final and final respectively. This set up a showdown with Down’s Iveagh Bosco in the penultimate stages of the All-Ireland series.

“When you think back, really, that game was a huge occasion for the community and the parish,” recalls Clarke. “Everybody from the village went to Newry that day. Back then, it was just so far away and it was a part of the country you would never travel to.”

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.