A Royal abroad
November 27, 2010Emigration is a situation that has affected the country once again as thousands of Irish leave these shores in search of their fortune. Unfortunately clubs will lose quality players, but it is a situation that has been seen on more than one occasion in Ireland. The Trim GAA club lost a talented player almost 20 years ago, when Clem McAuley packed his back and headed to the States.
Now residing in the Sunshine state of Florida, the former Meath minor spoke to the Royal County Yearbook about his Gaelic football career and his other passion, soccer.
The Meath footballers have given their supporters many good times over the years and some have been fortunate to have donned the jersey at some level. From time to time you will always hear of a player that may never play senior football for his county, even though many believed he would have made it.
Well this could be said about Clem as he was one of the most exciting talents to emerge from Meath during the mid-eighties. A love of gaelic football was equalled by his passion for soccer and many outsiders feel that this cost him a place on the Meath minor team that captured the Leinster title in 1985 when the Royals defeated Offaly in the final by 0-11 to 1-4. Future Meath stars PJ Gillick and Padraig Coyle were just some of the players on the team that would go on and represent the county with such honour.
However, Clem had already being making a name for himself in soccer and it is alleged that this was frowned upon by certain people, which many others feel was the reason he was dropped for the provincial decider.
"I enjoyed played football and I also liked the soccer, which was a problem for some people, but whether or not that was the reason I didn't play in the Leinster final, I'm not sure," said Clem.
"I had been playing well enough all year and I later got a couple of trials with Meath, but I decided to concentrate on the soccer, which I enjoyed greatly."
Clem feels that he would have won a senior football championship medal with Trim if hurling hadn't dominated in the club during that period.
"We had a very strong team, but it was almost impossible to get lads out as hurling took preference at that time and they had huge success, but I always feel that it was a pity we couldn't have given it a right good go, I'm sure we could have went all the way.
"There was some brilliant footballers in the club that time like the Foleys, Kevin and Frank, Ray Tully, John Andrews, the McCaffrey's, and many others."
Clem lined out for Home Farm, Drogheda United and Bray Wanderers during his league of Ireland career, and played for the Seagulls in the 1990/91 European Cup Winners' Cup, although the game against Turkish side Trabzonspor did not end well for the Meath man.
"I actually broke my leg against Trabzonspor and was out of the game for two years. I decided to head to the States shortly after that and I have been here ever since."
Having moved to Florida, Clem resumed his playing careers in both soccer and football as he was the founding member of the St Patrick's Gaelic football club.
"We actually won the North American championship for two years running. It was difficult keeping the club going as the Irish community dwindled once the economy started picking up at home and after ten years, we just couldn't do it anymore."
Clem picked up the North American Player of the Tournament award to prove that he had lost none of the skill that had made him one of Meath's brightest young prospects, just a few years earlier.
However, his career was not over yet and in 2004, he travelled to New York to line out for Meath in the junior championship. The Royals reached the final where they would play the Armagh club and aided by three points by Clem, Meath lifted the title for the first time since 1995.
"It was great to be involved with the Meath club and it was nice to be lining out with lads from the same county as you. These days I stick to the five-a-side soccer, and I'm still enjoying it."
Every year Clem likes to travel home to Trim where he catches up with his old friends, one of whom is Meath legend Darren Fay. "Darren would be a good friend of mine and I actually would have played a couple of senior games with Darren before I left for here.
"He came out and played football with us one year and even then you could see the drive and determination that he had. He took as serious as he would if he was lining out for Meath."
For the past three years, Clem and Roscommon native Francis Feeney have owned the Sláinte Irish Pub on Boynton Beach. The Irish community in the area gathers there regular to catch up on the goings on at home here, while the bar also places a great emphasis on fundraising as Clem explains.
"Over the last three years, we would have raised in the region of $700,000 for cancer research. We host a number of fundraising events including a sponsored head shave that helped raised $30,000.
"We would also have the likes of the Dublin City Ramblers and the young Wolfe Tones play out here, which always bring in a huge crowd. There is always something happening in the bar."
Clem is well settled in Florida and has three beautiful children in Caitlin (9), Aidan (6) and Aine (3), but he has never forgotten his roots and don't be surprised if you see him cheering on the Royals at Croke Park in 2011.
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