Clarke returns to league champions Rovers

FORMER Crumlin United player Trevor Clarke has joined defending Airtricity League champions Shamrock Rovers on loan until the end of the 2023 season.

Clarke is the latest signing for the Hoops with striker Johnny Kenny joining up with the squad last week after signing on loan from Celtic.

Trevor re-joins the Hoops having been transferred to Rotherham United in 2019.

The talented midfielder and wing-back played underage football for Crumlin United and St Kevin’s Boys before going to England, where he was a part of Middlesborough’s youth academy.

He left Middlesborough in July 2015 and signed for Shamrock Rovers U19 side in September 2015. Trevor made his debut for the Hoops in a Leinster Senior Cup tie at Bohemians that year before his first league appearance as a late substitute against Wexford Youths the following March.

Clarke joined up with the squad on Friday at pre-season training in Roadstone.

Speaking about the signing, Rover’s head coach, Stephen Bradley said: “We got speaking to Trevor the last few weeks and we were speaking to the club as well and thankfully we came to an agreement.

“We’re delighted to get him in. We obviously know about Trevor’s attributes from before he left but I think now he’s a more mature player and a better all-round player.”

“We feel that his pace and athleticism definitely adds to the team and the group. We know his character and personality, if you spend 10 minutes with Trevor now you see that he’s a more mature man than the one that left us. He’s a different man and, I believe, better for that. We’re a different team to the one Trevor left as well so all-round I think both parties are a different state than what they were when Trevor left the club [in July 2019].”

“He’s hungry to be successful and I think that’s important. When he was here, he helped the group and the club at the start and when he left, we’ve been very successful. Trevor wants to be part of a group that’s successful and playing in Europe and obviously he’ll have that opportunity here, if he works hard.”