Clarke set to give it a lash for Drogheda
The start of the new National League soccer season can"t come quickly enough for Michael Clarke as he looks to re-launch his career. The highly-regarded Kentstown youngster was in the thick of the action as Drogheda Utd fell from the highs of playing against some of the top clubs in Europe to flirting with ruin - all within a few months. It was all part of a series of events that would be considered even too outlandish to be included in a Roy of the Rovers episode. Clarke - son of Willie Clarke who helped Walterstown to two Leinster Club SFC titles in the late 1970s and early 1980s - had a ringside seat as he watched, like many others, with growing disbelief as Drogheda"s fortunes crumbled against the backdrop of financial disarray. Clarke was a member of the Drogheda Utd squad that travelled to the Ukraine to take on Dynamo Kiev in a Champions" League tie in August. The reigning National League Premier champions went within a whisker of defeating mighty Dynamo Kiev on their own patch, only losing out in the end (3-4) on aggregate. The second leg in the Valeriy Lobanovskyy Stadium finished 2-2 and the Irish side missed a late chance to cause a sensational result. Clarke found the whole experience of going to Kiev and sampling the Champions" League fare as 'unbelievable' and something he will never forget. The big stadium, the raucous crowd making a big impression on the promising defender. 'It was just brilliant to be part of it all, I loved it,' he told the Meath Chronicle this week as he looked back on nightmare few months for the club. He added that the worst time for him was the weeks and months after Kiev when it all started to unravel for Drogheda Utd and the club"s dreams of scaling some of the biggest summits in European football ended in tatters. Clarke had only signed professional terms in April yet eight months later it was all over as the club admitted it could no longer pay the players. Within a short time it all had changed, changed utterly for the United Park outfit. Now Clarke and other young players at Drogheda such as Darragh McNamara from Kells have a chance to re-ignite their careers at National League level. New Drogheda Utd manager Alan Mathews brought the players together for their first training session on Saturday morning. The bad weather prevented them from getting together on Sunday. In a radio interview last week Mathews had mentioned Clarke and McNamara as some of the young players he would look towards as he set about the considerable challenge of building a new side. Drogheda Utd"s misfortunes could provide opportunities for young players as the club"s trimmed down resources will leave openings for those ready and willing to take them. Both players could feature in Drogheda"s opening game of the season against Dundalk in the Jim Malone Cup match. Over the last few weeks Clarke has shown his determination to keep fit and has trained with the Kentstown soccer team and even had training sessions with local boxer Daniel Burke. Mathews has sought to add to his squad with newcomers such as John Paul Kelly from Bohemians and ex-Shelbourne and Dundalk goalkeeper Steve Williams. One of the many players gone from United Park is Enfield"s Shane Barrett who has joined Shelbourne. However, in a twist to the tale his brother Dean could sign for Drogheda this week. At the time of writing Clarke had yet to put pen to paper on a new contract. Any new agreement will be on a part-time basis, as will be the case with all the other players. Even manager Mathews will operate on a part time contract. During his brief time working under Paul Doolin, Clark said he learned a lot under the managerial guidance of the Dubliner. 'Paul was great to me, he gave me my first professional contract, I have great time for him. 'He gave me plenty of good advice. You would listen to his advice because he was straight. He would let you know what you did right and what you did wrong.' While Drogheda Utd are a few weeks behind other teams in their pre-season schedule they have at least emerged through turbulent time. Clarke is ready to help them take the next step back to firmer ground on the local soccer landscape.