TREVOR CLARKE WAS named man-of-the-match last Friday night as Shamrock Rovers got the better of rivals Bohemians in the SSE Airtricity League.
Still “buzzing” after what was a fine performance — both individually and collectively as a team — the teenager was brought into the bowels of Tallaght Stadium for the obligatory post-match interview and award presentation.
It was clear just how much the win meant to Clarke as he took questions from reporter Tony O’Donoghue, but when they cut back to studio, RTÉ were forced to apologise to viewers for the “colourful language” used.
In the hours and days that followed, the clip quickly spread as it was liked and shared hundreds of times across various social media channels.
“I wasn’t even thinking,” Clarke told The42 earlier today. “It was just straight off the pitch and in there. My adrenaline was still high after beating Bohs in a Dublin derby. I was just speaking the way I normally speak really!
“It meant everything to me, especially after getting man-of-the-match. The interview has gone all over the internet. It’s mad.”
Clarke is among a number of exciting, young players in this new-look Shamrock Rovers side. A schoolboy with Crumlin United and St Kevin’s Boys, the Dubliner was signed up by Middlesbrough and moved across the water to chase his dream.
Despite developing as a winger, however, he lasted a year with the Championship club’s academy and opted to return home in 2015 — initially joining Rovers’ U19s before progressing to the senior side.
And while the 18-year-old is open to giving English football another shot down the line, he feels it was the right decision at the time.
“It was a good experience to get away but it wasn’t really my thing,” he says. “I came home and I think it has worked out better for me. If you’re over in England you’re just playing academy football whereas you’re up against men here.
Some lads come back and don’t even end up playing League of Ireland. I’ve worked my way into the first team so it will stand to me in the long run.
“If anything was to happen in the future, I’d think about going back over.”
He is still a raw talent but Clarke has come on significantly since replacing the injured Luke Byrne last season and making the left-back position his own.
Byrne finally looks set to return to first-team football in the coming weeks after tearing cruciate and lateral ligaments 11 months ago, but he has a real battle on his hands to regain his place.
Having struck up a good understanding with left-sided midfielder Brandon Miele — who he says is “a good mate on-and-off the pitch” — Clarke is likely to pose a real attacking threat to opponents.
And Hoops boss Stephen Bradley is certain that the youngster can go far in the game if he keeps his head screwed on and puts in the work.
Trevor has been excellent, but I think there is so much more in him and that’s why I’m hard on him,” said Bradley.
“People said to me in the first half against Bohs that he looked good because he had two chances. If you really watched though, he was nowhere near what he can be. In the second half, it was more like him in terms of both defending and attacking.
“His ability is right up there with the best players that have left this country. He needs to go and put his mind to it but the sky is the limit for him.”
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