Jamie Clarke: ‘I’m never half in or out. It’s one or the other’

Jamie Clarke is staying in Ireland for the foreseeable future, that much the Armagh footballer can say for certain.

Jamie Clarke: ‘I’m never half in or out. It’s one or the other’

Jamie Clarke is staying in Ireland for the foreseeable future, that much the Armagh footballer can say for certain.

After missing the 2016 and 2018 seasons, partly to indulge his wanderlust and partly to build up international contacts in the fashion industry, he’s about to start up his own clothing label.

“Myself and a guy have been working on taking our own brand out, our own label, so it’s looking like autumn/winter this year,” said Clarke. “It’s exciting.”

It’s also a punt, a giant gamble and one that carries no guarantees of success, a lot like playing football for Armagh.

Three games into the National Football League, they have shown the best and worst of themselves under Kieran McGeeney, drawing two games before losing to Meath.

It sums up Clarke’s career in the orange; full of promise and potential but always just shy of the big prizes.

It’s nine years now since the wiry young Crossmaglen forward burst onto the inter-county scene with 3-7 in the summer of 2010, including a goal on his debut against Derry.

He’s scored 14-66 in total in the Championship for Armagh across 32 summertime appearances yet when it comes to Clarke, the conversation inevitably turns to the time he’s missed.

He sat out 2016, spending time in Australia and Paris, and he missed 2018 too, living in New York and playing football there for the Exiles in the Connacht championship. It’s a complicated football-fashion relationship that has left even Clarke flummoxed at times, like last year when he left for New York despite winning an All-Star nomination in 2017.

“That decision wasn’t football based, those were my own personal things going on that I wanted to solve too,” explained Clarke. “I faced the question; do I stay and be happy when I’m at football and be unhappy for the rest of my day? Kieran was like, ‘Go away and do what you have to do’.”

Kieran, of course, is Armagh manager Kieran McGeeney who Clarke feels is a little misunderstood when it comes to the caricature of a football obsessed figure that has been painted of him.

“What people don’t realise is that he’s bringing people on in their lives as well,” said Clarke.

“He cares about the person as well and how they’re getting on in terms of life. Are you really challenging yourself on and off the pitch? Are you doing the right things whether it’s relationships, work or family?

“We are close in Armagh now in that the boys are starting to really care about each other and to look out for each other. It’s not just a case of showing up for training and getting out of there. We’re hanging out a lot more now, whether it’s just going for a coffee or whatever, being best mates.”

They played with a smile on their face last summer and went down in a ball of fire to Roscommon in the qualifiers, coming out just the wrong side of an end-to-end classic that yielded 3-41.

The irony is that Clarke, a natural finisher, would have thrived in a game like that but was instead on duty with New York, scoring five points in their narrow loss to Leitrim.

He’s back now and fully invested in Armagh.

“To be honest, I’ve tried to keep a low profile with the media, purely for the sake of Armagh and the boys,” he said.

“Ultimately I want it to be about the team. I do bring that media attention by making those decisions to leave, it obviously brings an interest.

“For myself, it was always just trying to find that balance, that inner peace within myself that having gone away and seen the world, it’s kind of like, ‘look what’s out there, there’s so much opportunity’, and I felt I could do different things with my life.

“Do I regret going away again last year? No, because I’ve learned different things in terms of leadership, in terms of being happy within myself, humility, I’m in a much better place for it now. Ultimately it’s the love of Armagh and of the game that stops me from going away, and staying away.”

It would be easy to question Clarke’s commitment after missing two of Armagh’s last three Championship campaigns. He can only reply that he is unapologetic about his travels and that whenever he pulls on the orange, he gives it everything.

“If I’m going, I’m going, but if I’m in, I’m in,” said Clarke. “I’m never half in or out. It’s one or the other.”

The hope among Armagh supporters is that the 29-year-old, two-time All-Ireland club medallist sticks around to help usher through a team capable of mixing it with the best, like the side McGeeney played on in the 2000s.

“A big part of my role now is that we have a lot of young players coming through and it’s just being responsible for the next generation coming through,” he said.

“You always had this thing that you wanted to be number one, to be the best. That was the goal when you were 21, 22, 23. It’s only when you go away you realise, for me anyhow, that it’s about what my team-mates think of me when I’m around, what I’m doing for them and for Armagh. It’s about how you make other people feel rather than you trying to be number one.”

Jamie Clarke was speaking at the launch of Bodibro’s High Performance Sportswear 2019 GAA range. Bodibro specialises in personalised orders of training and match day gear.

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