Clarke: It Was Special to Go Out There and Play Wednesday, 25th Jan 2023 10:54 New signing Harry Clarke says it was special to play at Portman Road for the first time as Town defeated Morecambe 4-0 last night. Clarke, 21, put in an impressive full and home debut for his hometown club against the Shrimps. “It was special,” Clarke admitted afterwards. “But most importantly we got the win, got the clean sheet. Wish I’d topped it off with a goal, but it was a good night.” Clarke had already come close to a first Town goal at Oxford on Saturday with a header in the latter stages. “I know, I hit the bar, I should have done better with that,” he said. “And when I had my shot today, I probably should have squared it to Chappers [Conor Chaplin] but it’s coming.” He says family and friends packed the stands to watch him make his Portman Road bow following last week’s £1 million move from Arsenal. “I had about 20, I think,” he said. “I could have had more but I think there was a shortage of tickets. It was good to have them there, it was a special night.” Prior to the match Clarke, who spent the first half of the season on loan at Stoke, expected to feel emotional when making his way down the tunnel. “I thought I was going to be in tears, but actually I wasn’t,” he said. “Although when I saw my nanna and my family up there I went a little bit before the game. But I was fully focused on the game, to be honest, it was good and the result was perfect.” Regarding the Blues’ rampant first half display, he said: “They gave us a lot of space, especially me down the right side and also George [Edmundson], we could keep stepping into the game, and me and Wes [Burns] linked up well on the right side, and we were clinical. “We put our chances away and potentially could have had a couple more, but a good first half. “Coming in at half-time, the message was to potentially get more goals because you never know goal difference might count. But in the last case, keep a clean sheet and take the plus four.” Clarke says the early goal, Freddie Ladapo put Town in front in only the 52nd second, was important. “It takes the pressure off it,” he continued. “They had a couple of early free-kicks and long throws trying to keep the pressure on us, but to get the first goal was especially important.” The one-time England U17 international enjoyed his partnership with Burns on the right, which was particularly profitable for the Blues in the first half. “I kept overlapping him and sometimes let him go one-v-one and he’s a top player,” he said. “We linked up well and Chappers kept dropping outside the line and I had Evo [Lee Evans] inside me as well, and Keesy [Richard Keogh] behind me keeping me on my toes, keeping me switched on, which was good. “It’s brilliant playing with him, he talks well and kept me on my toes. It’s a new role for me, I’m used to playing sort of where Wes does. He kept me connected with the rest of the team and didn’t let me switch off, which was good.”  Clarke, who grew up in Brantham, was playing in the hybrid right-sided defensive role usually occupied by Janoi Donacien since manager Kieran McKenna took charge just over a year ago. Asked how it was explained to him by McKenna, Clarke said: “When you’ve got the ball it’s a right centre-back and the gaffer said I’ve got a licence to push on and attack, so it’s essentially a right-back really just tucked in. I really enjoyed it, absolutely loved it tonight.” He believes it suits his attributes: “Definitely. I think at Stoke I was playing right wing-back and a lot of it is back to goal and getting it on the last line, which is sort of what Wes does. “But I had the game in front of me and I could step onto the game today, which was good.” In 2015, aged 14, Clarke left the Blues’ academy for Arsenal's youth set-up, a story which made the national newspapers, while he revealed other big clubs were also showing interest at the time. “To be fair, it was all a bit of a shock because I was just focused on playing my games here and scoring goals and enjoying it,” he recalled. “And then my dad got calls and we had a few different options like Arsenal, Man U and other teams. “But I wanted to make that move to try and play at the highest level and you never say never, sometimes you go back to your home club and I’m back.” He admits it was difficult to leave Town: “Of course, but as soon as I went to Arsenal I sort of fell in love with the training ground and the facilities there and they showed a real want for me, which was nice, the same as the gaffer’s done here, so that’s what made me come back.” When he left he was a frontman, scoring the famous Barcelona-esque goal for the U14s which went viral, but was quickly moved back by the Gunners. “I was a striker, I used to bang the goals in and then six months in at Arsenal they changed me into a centre-back,” Clarke explained. “I played every position and settled on centre-back for three or four years and in the last couple of years I’ve moved out to right-back.” Few players can have had a Town heritage as strong as Clarke’s with his connections to the Blues going back three generations, starting with George Clarke, a centre-half in the late 1940s and 50s, who made 37 senior appearances, scoring one goal, under Scott Duncan's management. “My grandad’s uncle was called George Clarke,” he said. “My grandad [Terry] was here in the A team back then, but I don’t think he ever made a full appearance for the first team, but he was here in the 1950s, a long time ago. “My dad [also Terry] played for the reserves, my brother [also George] spent a lot of years in the academy [and is now with Felixstowe & Walton], so Ipswich runs in the family and obviously all my family and friends are all Ipswich fans.” When was he first at Portman Road as a supporter? “I dread to think! The earliest memory I have, and definitely went to one before this, was when Tamas Priskin scored here against Arsenal [in the League Cup semi-final first leg in January 2011]. “I don’t know how old I was then [nine]. But that’s my earliest memory but I definitely went before then. It’s special being back, especially to play out there as well.” But while Portman Road was familiar to him from the perspective as a fan, having not played there during his time in the academy, the ground's inner sanctum was new territory. “Everyone seemed to expect me to know where I was but I haven’t got a clue where I’m going, to be honest,” he laughed. “It was special to go out there and play.”
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