Martin 'Marty' Clarke (born November 13, 1987) is a footballer from Cranfield Point County Down, Northern Ireland who plays for Collingwood in the Australian Football League. This article needs to be wikified. ... is the 317th day of the year (318th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year 1987. ... Cranfield Point is the southernmost point of Northern Ireland. ... Statistics Province: Ulster County Town: Downpatrick Area: 2,448 km² Population (est. ... This article is about the constituent country. ... Collingwood Football Club, officially nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club involved, and playing in the Australian Football League. ... This article is about the national league in Australian rules football. ...

Gaelic football Career

Martin was an outstanding Gaelic football talent. He starred for Down GAA Minors [1], leading them to the 2005 All Ireland Championship and also played a large part in bringing his school, St Louis, Kilkeel, to 2 MacRory Cup finals in 2005 and 2006, and also to a MacLarnon Cup and an All Ireland Colleges 'B' title in as many years. Gaelic Football (Irish: Peil, Peil Gaelach or Caid ), commonly referred to as football, or Gaelic , is a form of football played mainly in Ireland. ... The Down County Board of the Gaelic Athletic Association (Irish: Cummann Luthchleas Gael Coiste An Dún) or Down GAA is one of the 32 county boards of the GAA in Ireland, and is responsible for Gaelic Games in County Down. ... The MacRory cup is an inter-college (as in school) Gaelic Football tournament in Ulster. ...

He played senior football with his club, An Riocht.[2] He was a centre half forward. He was first alerted to AFL scouts in the 2005 McRory Cup final, at which the Australian U17 International Rules team was present. In Australian rules football, the centre half-forward is a position on the half-forward line of a football field. ... International rules is a rhetoric sentence used by the governments of United States and Great Britain when pointing at countries that they regard as rogue states because of their political inclinations or because they do not voluntarily align to Washington or Londons international policies. ...

He was invited to an AFL training camp in July 2006. He impressed scouts even more and on 22 August 2006 signed a contract with Collingwood Football Club, becoming the first ever truly international rookie for the club. is the 234th day of the year (235th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Collingwood Football Club, officially nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club involved, and playing in the Australian Football League. ...

Although now dedicated to his professional AFL carrer, he has not cut all links with his amateur gaelic football past. This was demonstrated in October 2007, when Clarke returned home from Australia for a three week holiday and during that time helped his local club An Riocht lift its first ever Division One league title, defeating Kilcoo in the final. Martin scored 2-1 in the final, which was played under lights in Pairc Esler, Newry on 26th October 2007.

AFL career

Clarke has been dubbed by Collingwood assistant coach Guy McKenna as "the Irish equivalent of Nathan Buckley" - high praise indeed. Clarke is a quick midfielder who has adapted extremely well to the oval ball, and will become one to watch in the coming seasons. On Friday February 16, 2007 he made his AFL debut in a preseason game with Sydney Swans at the North Sydney Oval. He had an outstanding game.[3] This led Pies assistant coach Gavin Brown to say[4] Guy Bluey McKenna (born May 11, 1969) played Australian rules football for the West Coast Eagles in the AFL. McKenna played from 1988 until 2000, notching up 267 games and booting 28 goals. ... Nathan Buckley (born July 26, 1972) is a former Australian rules football player and captain of the Collingwood Football Club. ... is the 47th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... Sydney Swans is an Australian Football League (AFL) club based in Sydney, New South Wales. ... North Sydney Oval is a multi-use sporting facility primarily used for Rugby League (as home ground of the North Sydney Bears) and Rugby Union but is also utilised for Cricket, Australian Rules Football and Soccer. ...

"He was probably the stand-out player from the point of view that he had never played a game of Aussie Rules before. "It just showed that he has an enormous amount of will and want, and he had put in a lot of hard work. It was fantastic for him today - a good step.

Clarke made his debut in a premiership season game on Saturday, June 23, 2007, also against the Swans. Again, his game was outstanding, with 20 possessions in front of a crowd of 64,222 at Telstra Stadium in Sydney.[5] Some sources have even called his performance "one of the best debuts in the history of the game". [6] is the 174th day of the year (175th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... This page is for Telstra Stadium, Sydney. ... This article is about the metropolitan area in Australia. ...

His second game came in Round 13 against Hawthorn on July 1, 2007. In another promising display, Clarke picked up nineteen possessions and three goals, playing on former brownlow medallist Shane Crawford in a sell out crowd in front of 50,248 at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne. For his 3 goal near best on ground performance earned him a nomination in the NAB AFL Rising Star award in just his second game and a year to the date that he first arrived in Melbourne. For the 2007 Arena Football League season, see 2007 Arena Football League season. ... is the 182nd day of the year (183rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... Shane Crawford (born September 9, 1974 in Mount Barker, South Australia) is an Australian rules football player for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League. ... This page is for Telstra Dome, Melbourne. ... This article is about the Australian city; the name may also refer to City of Melbourne or Melbourne city centre (also known as The CBD). ... This article needs to be wikified. ...

Media work

Clarke currently writes a weekly diary for the Irish Daily Star's Northern pullout Sport On Tuesday. Since beginning the column in December 2007 Clarke has described the ups and downs of life in the AFL, with the Down man's sharp wit a notable element of the weekly diary.

External links

• An Riocht - GAA Club Co Down
• Down GAA Online - Ireland
• Martin Clarke profile on the Official AFL Website of the Collingwood Football Club
• A Collingwood TV interview with Clarke on youtube
• BBC documentary from 2007 (30 minutes long) on Clarke's first year in Australia

Numbers - 2007 - #43 2008 - #18