Brendan Clarke: 'The fact that we've won every game at home this year, Bohs aren’t going to care about that'

Paul Corcoran reports from the Aviva Stadium

Brendan Clarke has had a phenomenal career up to this point – which includes two previous FAI Cup wins with Sligo Rovers and St Patrick’s Athletic.

He has continued that strong career in 2023 by signing for Galway United where he has helped the Tribesmen win the First Division with several games to spare.

The goalkeeper now has an opportunity to return to the FAI Cup Final when his side faces Bohemians in a semi-final at Eamonn Deacy Park on Saturday and Clarke is eagerly anticipating the fixture.

“I’m really excited. I suppose first and foremost for us, the First Division was our objective at the start of the year, but it was also to have a good cup run and I think we've done that so far and we're looking to make it a better one,” he said, speaking to extratime.com at the Sports Direct FAI Cup Semi-Final Media Day on Wednesday.

“Personally, it'd be great to come back here because the experience of playing here – I'd love to be able to bottle it.

“You have to be here to understand what it means to be a league of Ireland footballer and to experience playing here.

“The fact that I've been lucky enough to play here a few times and win a cup, it doesn't mean Jack ****, you know. It doesn't matter what you've done in your career up to now, it's not going to help you win the game Saturday.

“I mean medals and all, personal accolades and stuff that I mean, for me, they're only for looking back on once you retire.

There’s been a good deal of talk about Galway United’s phenomenal season in general with the Tribesmen losing just two games so far this year.

Their home record in particular stands out as, including their two home FAI Cup wins against Bangor Celtic and Dundalk they have won all 18 games at Eamonn Deacy Park this year and they will be looking to make it 19 when Bohemians visit on Saturday.

“I suppose, at the start of the year when we spoke, we wanted to make, it's the old cliche, your home ground into a fortress, we wanted to make it uncomfortable for teams to come to Galway.

“It’s a lovely place to play, but we wanted to make it horrible for teams to come and play. With our intensity and we wanted the crowd on board, and I think I think we've done that this year.

“We’ve been lucky in games we probably won games we should have drawn. But again, the fact that we've won every game at home this year Bohs aren’t going to care about that. They'll be putting plans in place, to come down the road and win the game and you know, we have to be ready for that.”

Clarke also spoke about preparations for facing another Premier Division team having beaten Dundalk 4-0 in the previous round, although Galway will still be considered the underdog for Saturday’s fixture.

“It's fine, nothing changes for us, and I've said it in other interviews. We showed Dundalk the exact same respect that we'd shown UCD in the game before and the exact same respect that we showed Bangor – a junior side who were out of season and we had Ollie went and watched them to get a feel for them, to get player profiles done on them,” he explained.

“I don't think there's a club in the country that that man has the same play live. In terms of how we'll approach this it will be the exact claim as we will for anyone else and the staff will put plans in place for us to be successful and then it's just down to us on the day. 

“We're fully aware of the challenge ahead of us and Bohs are a massive club, massive history, brilliant team and phenomenal squad depth as well.”

Clarke has been playing in the League of Ireland since 2003 when he first signed for St Patrick’s Athletic

He moved west for this season and joined the Tribesmen with a specific goal in mind for himself and the group – something that manager John Caulfield laid out clearly to the goalkeeper last winter.

“He told me what he wanted to do this year was to win the division.

“It wasn't about going up in the playoffs. Probably because they've not had great playoffs in the past, it was all about winning the division that's all we spoke about all year, and it was something I wanted to be a part of.

“It wasn't financial or anything. Since I left Pat’s and going to shells, it's been about going into training with a smile on your face and being able to work and not take your work home with you.

“Obviously, you have to live your life as a professional footballer but there were times in the past where you'd leave training in bad moods and stuff and you're taking into your family life or whatever.

“So I felt it was a good fit in terms of what I wanted from the move and what I wanted from Galway United a club and fit was a good fit from what John wanted in in a new goalkeeper.”

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