ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC have this afternoon announced the signings of Alex O’Hanlon, Kurtis Byrne and Barry Murphy for 2017.
The trio join Gavin Peers (Sligo Rovers) and Patrick Cregg (Shamrock Rovers) as the newest arrivals in Inchicore ahead of the beginning of the new season, which kicks off for Pat’s against Bray Wanderers at Richmond Park on 24 February.
Having left in 2013 to join Shamrock Rovers, Murphy returns for a second spell with the Saints. The 31-year-old goalkeeper will plug the gap left by the departure of Brendan Clarke, who’ll line out for Limerick this season.
Byrne, whose father Paul is a former Pat’s player, makes the move across Dublin after spending last season with Bohemians, for whom he scored 10 goals. The 26-year-old former Hibernian striker was a member of Dundalk’s league-winning squad in 2014 and ’15.
O’Hanlon returns to Ireland after spending five years in the Liverpool Academy. A left-sided midfielder who has also played as a full-back, the 20-year-old former St Kevin’s Boys player was released by the Anfield club last summer.
“I’m delighted to add the three lads to our squad as we continue our preparations for the new season and our opening fixture against Bray,” said St Patrick’s Athletic manager Liam Buckley.
“We’ve retained a large amount of our squad from last season and, coupled with our new signings and talented players from our underage sides, we’re looking forward to the year ahead.”
Pat’s finished in seventh place in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division last season, but the 2013 champions and 2014 FAI Cup winners did manage to secure silverware for the fourth year in a row by retaining the League Cup.
Buckley added: “Barry will be a great signing for the club. We know Barry well from his time with us previously and it’s great to have him back. He’s a terrific keeper and will be a great addition to our group.
“Kurtis Byrne is technically one of the best players in the league, so to add him to our squad is a huge plus. He is another player our supporters will know well as he has a reputation of scoring some superb goals over the past few seasons and we hope that he can continue that trend with us.
“Finally, Alex is a hugely talented player and I’m delighted to welcome him to the club. Alex has an excellent left foot and will be a signing that our supporters can look forward to seeing in the colours of St Pat’s.
“He has experience from being involved in the Liverpool set-up for five years and has played at underage level for Ireland so we’re looking forward to seeing him feature throughout the 2017 season.”
Fair play to ya Chris,don’t be afraid to fail , hope Wales go all the way.
They need to scrap that poxy yellow card rule , to many players are missing huge games for silly yellow cards . That ref was trigger happy with his cards , poor Ramsey gonna miss this biggest game of gis life for an accidental handball ,bullshit
Considering the length of this tournament, should have been an amnesty by the semi’s….. Stupid rules….
Crazy that there’s no amnesty.
Yellow Cards in consecutive games should result in a one match ban….. Other than that they shouldn’t count. Very harsh. He was brilliant today…..
Agree Ryan,he should at least be able to appeal it.
Totally agree. No way should you miss a semi or final..carry it forward and maybe make it a 2 game ban for next qualifying tournament? ??-
Belgium : A country that bottles great beer and big tournaments. Fair play to Wales.
England to sign up Colman in £10 million deal.
Emotional Cookie-monster motivates an entire country. Sports people of all grades appreciate the hard work that goes into creating the winning team effort. That was a proud moment for our Celtic comrades!!
Bale vs Ronaldo Semi-final… can’t wait
Team player v me feiner
I really hope they go all the way
Portugal have really rode their luck in their last 2 games and have not been at all impressive…. Wales have every chance….. could they repeat Denmark and Greece as being underdog champions? Either way I fancy them against Portugal.
Amazing amazing achievement by Wales which kind of puts were we are as a football team into perspective. Look at how they beat Belgium- playing football & not in anyway hanging on. We on the other hand seem to have this slight sense of euphoria about the euros yet we literally can’t play football. Still long ball rubbish. The sense is that we are on the right track – we’re not. And the media is still on about how great our fans are. Some joke.
Fair play to Wales. We have vastly improved since the last tournament. no disrespect to Brady but she’s a not Bail.
damn autocorrect. Brady is not Bail
Well england were you watching…??.I rest my case!!
What case is that?