Gutted that hardly anyone saw my finest-ever save
DAVID CLARKE is goalkeeper for a Menai Bridge Tigers side currently riding high at the top of the Gwynedd League.
Bridge have not only won all eight league matches this season, they are also into the next rounds of the Meditel Gwynedd Cup and Bob Owen Memorial Shield.
Experienced keeper Clarke has played for a number of clubs in the Anglesey and Bangor areas, winning a whole host of trophies along the way at different levels.
The Mail this week spoke to the man who has international honours to his name...
List which clubs you have played for.
Beaumaris, Bethesda Athletic, Menai Bridge Tigers and Glantraeth, and a few cameos for other teams.
Have you always been a goalkeeper, or have you played in other positions?
I’ve always been a goalkeeper on a Saturday but did play a season up front for the Victoria Menai Bridge on Sundays and got top scorer. What is your first major football memory? This would probably be when Republic of Ireland beat Italy in World Cup 94. Best game ever played in? It was the 2011-12 North Wales Challenge Cup Final for Glantraeth against Bangor City at Nantporth. I got man of the match but we lost 4-1 so it was bittersweet. Honours won in football? I’ve won the Anglesey League, Welsh Alliance Divisions One and Two, the North Wales Junior Cup and various league cups from the Anglesey, Gwynedd and Welsh Alliance leagues – too many to name.
Biggest highlight of your football career?
Playing for the North Wales Coast FA team that went to Estonia to represent Wales – amazing experience with top players. Best save ever made? My best save was actually in a warm-up for a game in Blaenau Ffestiniog – it was like Gordon Banks for England but barely anyone saw it. I was gutted. Strengths and nesses to your game? These days my strength is probably my experience; I’ve weak- been around a while now and my weakness is my fitness – it’s gone downhill a lot the last few seasons.
How does the current Menai Bridge Tigers side compare to other teams you have played for in the past?
The squad we have in terms of quality in numbers is one of the best I’ve played for, as we could be missing five players and have five just as good to come in. But the Bethesda team I played for under Chris O’Neal was Cymru Alliance standard playing Welsh Alliance.
We were Welsh Alliance champions in 2007-08 and 2008-09, then held our own in the Cymru Alliance, but were relegated because of league restructuring in North Wales. Future ambitions in football? To win the Gwynedd League and then retire. RANDOM QUESTIONS Are you superstitious? No, not really What do you do for a living? Radio operator in a taxi office. What’s the best Christmas present you have ever received? My Super Nintendo when I was about 13. Tell us something about you which may surprise us? I have an actual Welsh cap for representing Wales.
Best sporting occasion ever attended?
Best one by far was in Cardiff when Wales beat Belgium 1-0 and everyone sang the national anthem near the end of the game. It was spine-tingling. How many sugars in your tea/coffee? Two in my tea but I don’t drink coffee.
Is the current Wales football squad better than the one we had at Euro 2016?
Squad-wise it’s better. There are some quality young lads coming through. What annoys you? Not much really unless I’m really tired – then everything. What would be your first purchase if you won the lottery? A nice house with a nice big garden for my family.