CLIFFORD IS FINALLY FEELING AT HOME WITH PAT’S
YOU would almost lose count of the fresh starts at this stage. But Conor Clifford has never lost hope. He is on his third new beginning alone since returning to the League of Ireland in 2017. Now with St Patrick’s Athletic, the midfielder has come through the other side of a six-month worldwide ban for betting offences prior to his move to Dundalk two years ago.
He joined Limerick once that suspension was up but, seven weeks later, that contract was cancelled as the club ran into financial difficulties.
But let’s start at the very beginning, when Clifford was captain of Chelsea’s FA Youth Cup-winning side in 2010 and a regular at firstteam training. Frank Lampard took the Palmerstown native under his wing. Extra practice after sessions, gym work and words of advice as they relaxed together in the jacuzzis and sauna rooms of Chelsea’s luxurious Cobham training base.
None of which could properly prepare him for the dirty world of professional football. A loan spell with Plymouth Argyle under manager Peter Reid started well until he had to return to Stamford Bridge because the struggling club were hit by a transfer embargo.
Paul Ince took him to Notts County but got sacked soon after. Spells with Yeovil Town and Portsmouth followed before another loan with Crawley Town, where he arrived to be asked whether he was right or left-footed.
‘It’s the hype, I think a lot of people want to be seen to be playing over there to say “I’m a footballer, I play in England”. You don’t want to be seen as a failure so you drag it out as long as possible,’ Clifford explains.
‘I should have come home earlier,’ Clifford accepts.
In February 2013, after his Chelsea contract was cancelled by mutual consent, a permanent move to Leicester City was on the horizon with a shot-term deal/extended trial until the end of that campaign. Nigel Pearson was in charge and asked to continue the trial into pre-season that summer.
Instead, Clifford took the offer of a two-year contract from Phil Brown at Southend United. Before he knew it, there was another loan at Barnet and, eventually, the spiral continued out of the Football League completely with a switch to Boreham Wood. That is where he placed the bets on football matches — not involving his own team — which resulted in the sixmonth ban after he had joined Dundalk. Liam Buckley brought him to St Pat’s as Limerick headed for relegation but on departing before the end of last season, Clifford was determined to force his way into new boss Harry Kenny’s plans. ‘I knew that I had to get away and work my socks off in pre-season and try to impress Harry. Luckily enough, I have done that and I just want to do that and keep impressing. ‘He’s been brilliant, honestly, I’m not just saying that. All players say that even though they probably hate the manager! He’s really got us all going and we all want to run through a brick wall for him.
‘Harry’s a great man manager as well, everyone really enjoys him. I’ve had managers in the past who were unapproachable. You couldn’t knock on their door and they thought that things were great, walking around with their flip boards and talking about tactics.
‘I think that you have to be a human being as well. You have to be a manager and you have to be able to speak to teams as well and Harry is great at that.’
Pat’s are the 13th club of Clifford’s career and at just 27-yearsold, he admits that a lack of match fitness has been a major blight on his progress. ‘You know in your head what you want to do but you can’t get around the pitch to do it. It’s horrible.’
He covered more than 12 kilometres in the opening game of the season at home to Cork City and ahead of the visit of Shamrock Rovers this evening, Clifford is primed to step up another level.
‘There’s a lot of hype about Rovers. There are top players there — Aaron McEneff, Jack Byrne and Greg Bolger — and I can’t wait to get stuck into them and hopefully we can come out on top.
‘We need a big performance and a big marker to say we’re there for the season. We’re ambitious lads here and Harry has drilled it into us that we’re not just here to make up the numbers. Pat’s have been irrelevant the last couple of years. We haven’t really been in amongst it so we want to get back to where we belong.’
Clifford grew up a St Pat’s supporter in nearby Palmerstown and was a regular in The Shed with close friend and Ireland international Andy Boyle. Since returning home there have been some changes, though.
The bowling alley across the road from the family home where he used to play snooker every day is now closed, so too Raphael’s snooker hall in Lucan village. ‘They’re closing down everywhere now. I love snooker. I play up in Celbridge every Thursday night. The Flyer. It’s a tournament and there are some good players there. Fergal O’Brien and [former world champion] Shaun Murphy train up there every day.’
This could finally be the break Clifford has been searching for.