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Irish Examiner
14-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
No football and hurling hierarchy in Clare, says Ikem Ugwueru
Ikem Ugwueru says the Clare footballers never feel like they are being overshadowed by their hurling counterparts, despite the Banner winning last year's All-Ireland hurling title. Ugwueru, who started the Munster final against Kerry at centre-back, sees the appointment of manager Peter Keane as a sign of their rising status. "We know most of the hurlers too," said Ugwueru. "They're some of our good mates. There'd never be a hierarchy, if you can say it like that. I don't feel like we ever think about the hurlers overshining us. They're in their own battle. We're in our own battle." Clare lost the Munster decider against the Kingdom by 11 points. Ugwueru thought their defence didn't adapt quickly enough to close the space which allowed Kerry score four first half goals. The team felt like they let down Keane against his native county. "But he keeps instilling belief into us," said Ugwueru. "Even after (the Munster final), he's still telling us that it's still down to us that we can achieve anything that we want to achieve. That's the kind of man he is. He will never let a result like that define the year or define him." The Éire Óg Ennis man made his Clare championship debut in 2023. Two years on, partly due to the high turnover of players in the Clare panel, he's one of its more senior members. Pictured are L-R Ikem Ugwueru (Clare), Jemar Hall (Armagh), Mícheál Martin (Cork), David Clifford (Kerry), Cillian McDaid (Galway) and Niall Scully (Dublin) at SuperValu's launch of the GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. Pic: ©INPHO/Dan Sheridan "Football has been going where I've been enjoying it," he said. "It's a challenge every year. You might have a different manager, different group of players. We don't know after this year if the same bunch will be there again. And that's another challenge that I'm looking forward to experiencing. "And also leadership roles as well. This year, after losing the 11 players that we did last year, I'm somewhat of a senior player now that I never would have thought I'd be. It's just embracing that as well. "And also showing the youth that you can come through with your best efforts and you never know where you could go. And that's also why I'm part of the SuperValu campaign as well, just to show lads that are not from Irish backgrounds or that have never played the sport before that you should just give your best effort and you never know where you could go." Ugwueru, the first black man to play football for Clare, has been part of SuperValu's campaign to promote diversity and inclusion in the GAA for the last few years. "I was selling an old pair of boots that I had on Depop and one fella actually texted me; he wasn't even trying to buy the boots," he explained. "He was just texting me to ask for tips about football. Because he didn't know how to contact me but he saw my page on the website and he texted me saying that, 'oh, I saw your ad for SuperValu. You've really inspired me. Do you have any tips for gym, fitness and obviously how to be a good defender?' That meant a lot to me." Reaching the Munster final qualified Clare for the Sam Maguire group stages where they will play Louth, Monaghan and Down. In their two previous attempts, they finished bottom of the group and failed to progress. "We're going to try and change that this year," said Ugwueru. That challenge begins this weekend against Down at Cusack Park, where they won all of their Division 3 games this year. "We take massive pride in playing at home," he said. "Getting those home games, you can't take them for granted. You don't get many of them. "We've won all of our games at home (in the league) and we're planning to continue that. The support that we get from Clare supporters is massive and they do a lot for us behind the scenes. Us playing at home, we do it for them really. "They'll see us on the street, they'll come up and tell us good luck and that we should keep going and that we're doing them proud. Things like that, it stands with us."
The Irish Sun
14-05-2025
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
‘This year can be different' – Clare ace Ikem Ugwueru says Banner won't settle for just showing up in All-Ireland group
Ikem Ugwueru is confident that Clare can make it third time lucky and qualify from their All-Ireland SFC group. 2 Ikem Ugwueru is confident Clare can qualify from their All-Ireland SFC group 2 Clare host Down this weekend in their All-Ireland group opener The beaten Munster finalists have been handed an easier fixture list this year, with three Division 2 teams in their group. They were tossed into a group of death in 2023 with Division 1 sides Donegal and Monaghan, as well as Ulster champions Derry. Last year, Clare were demolished by Ulster heavyweights Donegal and Tyrone in their group and lost out to Cork also. Peter Keane's side will host Down this Sunday in Ennis, a great chance to score a win that could even secure a knock-out place. READ MORE ONN GAA Speaking at the announcement that SuperValu has renewed its sponsorship of the football championship for five seasons, Ugwueru said: "We don't want it to just end after the Munster campaign. "You could have put in a decent performance against Kerry, who are obviously a Division 1 team, and if you play well people give you a pat on the back. "You feel like, okay, you've done your job - that's the season done. But now we still have three more games to play and you have every chance of beating the first team that you're coming up against, or the second team, or the third team. "So it's never over. You could almost say that last year, it was a bit of a shock, that we only lost by five or six or seven to Kerry in the Munster final. But then that good performance was our last one. We didn't win a game after that. Most read in GAA Football "We lost to Cork, and then we lost to Tyrone and Donegal. And that was the year done for us and we didn't feel like we were happy with that. So yeah, we're going to try to change that this year." Clare put 0-21 on the board earlier this month in the Munster final but were still well beaten by the Kingdom. Gardai investigating as GAA fans engage in brawl in shop The game was as good as up inside 10 minutes when Kerry led by 2-4 to 0-1. But Clare won't view Down as their superiors as both teams will compete together in Division 3 next season. And with home advantage the Banner could even be favourites. Powerful wing-back Ugwueru said: "We've won all our league games at home and we're planning to continue that." Ugwueru is loving life under the new rules with more one-v-one opportunities cropping up. He said: "I back myself one-on-one against most people. That's what I enjoy about the new rules." And the Eire Og man, the son of Nigerian parents, is enjoying being a role model in the Clare jersey too. Strength and conditioning coach Ugwueru said: "That's why I'm part of the SuperValu campaign as well, just to show lads that are not from Irish backgrounds, or that have never played the sport before, that you should just give your best effort and you never know where you could go. "There was a funny story actually. I was selling an old pair of boots that I had on Depop and one fella actually texted me. He wasn't even trying to buy the boots. "He was just texting me to ask for tips about football. Because he didn't know how to contact me but he saw my page on the website and texted me saying, "I saw your ad for SuperValu, you've really inspired me. Do you have any tips for gym, fitness and how to be a good defender?' That meant a lot to me." Pictured are Clare's Ikem Ugwueru, at SuperValu's launch of the GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship in SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh and showing their support for diversity and inclusion within the GAA. SuperValu has today announced a five-year extension of their partnership with the GAA, marking a 20-year commitment to communities across Ireland and making SuperValu the longest standing sponsor of the GAA All-Ireland Senior Football Championship.
