WHEN PETER BURKE was called into an office at the Academy of Light, Sunderland’s training ground, and told that his contract wasn’t being renewed, it felt like his world had ended.
Since the summer of 2012, the Moville-born goalkeeper had been living the dream in the north-east of England.
Under goalkeeping coach, Tony Norman, a former Sunderland player, Burke – capped by the Republic of Ireland up to Under-19 level – believed his progress was enough to merit a new deal.
That morning earlier this year, it felt as if the roof had caved in.
He had four months’ notice before he was to catch a plane back home and begin planning his next move.
At first, he wondered whether he’d bother donning the gloves again, but a chance at Irish League Premiership side Cliftonville has allowed Burke to rediscover his zest for the game.
“It’s hard to come back,” the 19-year-old says.
“When I first came home from Sunderland, it was like: ‘Will I go back and play at all?’
“Whenever you have that taste of professionalism, it doesn’t take you long to get the bite back again. After a while, you realise that you’ve no option but to get back at it.
“I knew I was coming home for four months before I did. I was told I wasn’t getting a new contract at Sunderland and I had a lot of thinking time to do. My main objective was to get a senior club to play with so I could keep progressing.
“I was bitterly disappointed, but looking at the amount of goalkeepers at Sunderland it might have been a good thing. Having that disappointment, you have to show good character going back into part-time football.
“It was great to get back in action quickly again. The longer I’d have stayed out, the harder it would have been.”
Burke trained briefly with Derry City upon returning home, but with Gerard Doherty and Shaun Patton already on the books, the Brandywell club couldn’t offer the Moville man a contract.
Cliftonville called and curiosity, if nothing else, saw him take up their offer.
In pre-season, he kept five clean sheets in six games and he’s played his part during the first half of the season.
Among his highlights so far are the two penalty saves against Dungannon Swifts in a shoot-out win in the JBE League Cup.
Regular goalkeeper Conor Devlin has regained his place again, but Burke appears content with his lot at Solitude.
“They contacted me not long after I came home and asked me up to train. I played a couple of pre-season games for them and kept five clean sheets in six games. That’s the way for a goalkeeper to show what he’s worth,” he says.
“I played the first half of the season when the number one ‘keeper was out and then we swapped manager.
“I was put out and put back in again. I’m still enjoying it and loving the training. My aim is to be the number one. That’s my focal point and I’ll give my all to get that spot.”
There are no regrets from the former Moville Celtic man as he readjusts to life back in Ireland again.
“I was three years at Sunderland and that was exactly what I wanted to do,” he says.
“If I hadn’t gone over there, I’d have been full of regrets about not going. I was representing Ireland at 14 and 15 so football was the big thing for me. I got over and got a taste of what it was like.
I never had any specialised goalkeeping coaching before I went there. That was my first time. That brought me on so much – coaching for ‘keepers is essential.”
Burke did A Levels in Sports and Excellence while in Sunderland and is now at Letterkenny Institute of Technology, studying sport and is also lining out with the Port Road college’s team, who are looking forward to a League semi-final early in 2016.
“It’s brilliant to be in the semi-finals,” Burke says.
“We were pretty comfortable in the quarter-final against Tallaght. I don’t think I had a shot to save the whole game. We’re gelling as a group the more games we play. Hopefully we can keep progressing now.”
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