AFC Bournemouth
To mark International Women’s Day, afcb.co.uk sat down with Cherries academy striker Ash Clarke to talk about the influence his mother Helen has had on his career.
Hailing from the Isle of Wight, Clarke’s mum (pictured above with his sister Katie) moved the family to Portsmouth when he was nine to give him better exposure to football, the decision paying off when he was spotted by Cherries scouts.
Read the full feature here…
Even though his mum wanted him to become a dancer, Ash Clarke is making her proud with some impressive moves on a football pitch.
Striker Clarke has played a key role in AFC Bournemouth’s maiden season in category two and in their impressive run in the FA Youth Cup.
The 18-year-old leads the goalscoring charts in the Professional Development League and has been pivotal in the Cherries claiming two big scalps in the cup.
His double earned them a 2-0 win against West Brom in the third round before his opener was followed by three goal involvements as James Lowy’s team stunned Newcastle United in round four.
Clarke drew first blood with a finely-executed strike after just 56 seconds at St James’ Park before winning a free-kick for Jack Holman to make it 3-0.
He then supplied the through ball which resulted in Remy Rees-Dottin being fouled for a penalty and provided the assist for Jonny Stuttle to complete his hat-trick in the second half.
But had mum Helen had her way, it could have been a very different story for Clarke, a second-year scholar at Vitality Stadium who joined the club as a 15-year-old following a successful trial period.
“I started playing football when I was six, but my mum didn’t want me to,” Clarke told afcb.co.uk. “My three older brothers all played so she probably didn’t fancy another 15 years of getting frozen watching on the sidelines!
“She tried to get me into something else and took me to an after-school club where they did dancing. It was an hour every Thursday and I hated every minute of it!
“When that didn’t work, she encouraged me to take up athletics which I did for quite a long time in primary school and secondary school.
“I’m quite quick and was good at 50m and 100m. I was probably one of the quickest in my primary school and I won quite a lot of races.
“But I would rather play football than run 50m. It was my main ambition and, once mum realised, she backed me and has always believed in me.
“I think she knew it was eventually going to happen but, at first, she wanted me to do something else. She loves coming to games now and is my biggest supporter.”
Born on the Isle of Wight, Clarke’s mum moved the family to Portsmouth when he was nine to give him better exposure to football, the decision paying off when he was spotted by Cherries scouts playing for local team Baffins Milton Rovers.
He takes up the story: “We played a cup semi-final and I scored four and got an assist. Someone from Bournemouth was watching and they invited me in for a trial. I was buzzing.
“I played a couple of games, scored four goals and got two assists. As a triallist, scoring goals is the best thing you can do as an attacker.
“Academy football was a lot different for me and, seeing it properly, made me realise it was where I wanted to be and was my best chance of becoming a pro.
“They gave me a six-week trial and, to be honest, I struggled at the start to get used to it and the travelling was hard.
“We played Chelsea in our first pre-season game and I did well. Two days later, they rang my mum and told me they were going to give me a contract until scholarships were given out.
“It came to a scholarship decision and I got offered an extension because I had had Covid and been injured.
“We came back after Christmas and I did everything I could to prove I deserved a scholarship.
“We had a game against Gillingham and I was told to come in early for a meeting. That was when they handed me my scholarship.
“I had to calm down because I had to go out and play for the under-18s so it didn’t really hit me or sink in until after the game.”
By his own admission, Clarke, who regularly returns to the Isle of Wight to visit his grandad who has dementia, has grown up quickly since arriving at AFC Bournemouth.
However, despite his eye-catching progress with the club’s academy, Clarke knows he will have made it only when his biggest fan is satisfied.
“Mum always has a little joke with me and says I won’t have made it until I’ve got my name on the Match Attax football stickers!” laughed Clarke.
“I’ve got a really good relationship with my mum. We love to have a joke with one another and we like to annoy each other. It’s funny and I couldn’t ask for a better relationship.
“She’s such a caring person and she has always wanted me to do well and pushed me. Sometimes, I hate it because she’ll nag me, but it’s coming from a good place.
“She just wishes the best for me and her dream is for me to become a professional footballer and to see my surname on the back of a shirt and I just want to do that for her.”
This feature first appeared in MATCHDAY for the visit of Nottingham Forest in January.
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