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« on: March 02, 2017, 10:45:30 AM »
An absolutely brilliant footballer, sad to hear.
Former Down playmaker Marty Clarke has called time on his playing career at the age of 29.
The An Riocht man informed his club mates of the decision last week after having spoken with a consultant in the weeks after Queen’s University’s Sigerson Cup defeat to DCU last month.
An outstanding underage prospect, Clarke had two separate spells with AFL giants Collingwood and backboned Down’s run to the 2010 All-Ireland final against Cork after returning home from his first stint.
He returned home from Australia for the second time in November 2014, just months after being diagnosed with an extremely rare case of Addison’s disease.
Speaking in today’s Irish News about his decision to retire, Clarke stated: “I made the decision because of the stress it’s putting me under.
“The dynamic nature of Gaelic where you’re running, you’re jumping, I was putting my body under a lot of stress.
“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.
“I went and got a bit of advice from the consultant and he recommended I stop competitive sport.”
“It probably hasn’t sunk in totally but I know in my heart, the way I was feeling after a lot of football games for club and Queens, that it’s not safe and I’m not doing myself justice probably
“The Kingdom have been first class and it was pretty emotional telling the fellas.”
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