Former Armagh footballer Jamie Clarke is not ready to call time on his inter-county football days just yet as he feels that he is in a good position to revive his sporting career.
Having recently returned from living in Paris, Clarke has joined a Crossmaglen panel hoping to make up for back-to-back county final defeats over the last two seasons.
Clarke also joined Irish League soccer side Newry City earlier this month and will hope to make his Irish League debut at home to Linfield this afternoon at the Showgrounds.
The 33-year-old is keeping an open mind on his future, and that includes the possibility of remaining an option for Kieran McGeeney’s Orchard side.
“There definitely is that kind of ‘I’m not done yet’ attitude in me, perhaps with Armagh but even from a sporting context at an elite level,” Clarke told RTÉ Radio 1’s Saturday Sport.
“I know from myself and my own body, I know I’m not done yet. The hunger is still there one way or another.
“It was a decent year for Armagh, tough at times, the Galway one was slightly intense. It was great watching but, essentially, I would have preferred to be on the pitch.”
Clarke doesn’t envision any issues when trying to combine Gaelic football and soccer duties, and puts that down to the understanding of his respective managers.
“I’ve been training rigorously with Cross and suppose building the fitness back up,” he said.
“Stephen Kernan, who I used to play with, is the coach at the moment. Everything’s very professional and organized.
“He would know Darren [Mullen] as well, the manager of Newry, so there’s a good relationship there where you can balance the workload and manage it.”
Clarke found the net a number of times in the Armagh Senior League on his return to Cross colors, something that wouldn’t have gone unnoticed by McGeeney.
If he was to make a sensational return to the Armagh panel, it would be his first time involved since their 2020 Ulster Championship semi-final hammering at the hands of Donegal.
Fashion enthusiast Clarke moved to Paris soon after, and he said that McGeeney always understood his desire to travel.
“When I’m in, I’m all in, and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to give that full commitment,” Clarke said.
“It was unfair on myself and the team at that stage.
“When Kieran first came in under Paul Grimley [2014]I was like ‘right, I’m going to learn as much as I can from Kieran’,” he added.
“I had that growth mindset and that mentality to adapt and learn to the way he wanted to do things.
“If I was ever leaving, it was just a case of Kieran being understanding about it.
“Obviously we challenge each other at times, but I think that’s a part of elite sport.”
While McGeeney may have been understanding, some fans may have been less forgiving with Clarke choosing to travel on a number of occasions, including to America where he represented New York in the 2018 Connacht Championship.
Clarke said that online abuse at various times did bother him, but he learned to accept it.
“You’re playing an amateur sport and you’re going to be in the headlines a lot purely because it’s our national sport,” he added.
“When you make a decision like that I suppose some of the purists might not like it as much, particularly when they don’t know you as a person.
“So when you see things like that it’s hard not to react and feel some sort of emotion towards it.
“Over time you grow a thicker skin and you learn that everyone’s going to have an opinion.”