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coach clarke

Marty Clarke begins his inter-county coaching career with Cavan U20s

The 30-year-old retired from club football earlier this year.

CAVAN HAVE CONFIRMED that Marty Clarke will be part of the Cavan U20 football management set-up for the coming season.

It’s a first inter-county coaching role for the former Down star, who joins the backroom team of incoming U20s manager Kevin Downes. Downes has been involved as a coach with Westmeath, Cavan and London seniors in recent seasons.

Clarke retired from playing club football earlier this year at the age of 29 due to a rare medical condition – Addison’s disease.

A prodigious talent in his underage days, he led Down to the All-Ireland minor title in 2005 before embarking on a professional career with AFL club Collingwood the following year.

His first stint in Australia was a major success but he arrived home in September 2009, and led the Mournemen on a thrilling journey to the All-Ireland final where they fell to Cork.

He returned to Collingwood but failed to live up to his previous lofty standards, before he was diagnosed with Addison’s disease and returned home for good.

Once he got back, Clarke featured for An Riocht and UUJ for a couple of seasons, but the illness eventually took its toll.

“With the dynamic nature of Gaelic where you’re running, you’re jumping, I was putting my body under a lot of stress,” he told the Irish News in March.

“I just felt completely zapped from the start of the game to the finish. When I got home it was taking me longer and longer to recover.”

Clarke studied a diploma in sports and management during his time in Australia, and back in March he spoke about his desire to move into coaching. He has taken training sessions with various clubs in Ulster, while also coaching with Tadhg Kennelly at the AFL Combine in UCD last December.

Just turned 30, Clarke is an intelligent analyst and he’s done some punditry work with BBC and RTÉ over the past year, most recently featuring on RTÉ’s coverage of the International Rules series.

Cavan also announced that Crosserlough clubman Jimmy Higgins, who was part of Terry Hyland’s backroom in 2016 and Mattie McGleenan’s team in 2017, will join Downes’ management team.

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