Former Liverpool youth among trio of signings for St Pat’s
St Patrick’s Athletic today announced the signings of goalkeeper Barry Murphy, Republic of Ireland U19 international Alex O’Hanlon and attacker Kurtis Byrne ahead of the 2017 SSE Airtricity League season.
The trio join Gavin Peers and Patrick Cregg as new signings for the Saints ahead of the new league season which the Inchicore side get underway with a home fixture against Bray Wanderers on February 24 (kick-off 7.45pm).
Speaking after the three players put pen to paper Saints boss Liam Buckley said: “I’m delighted to add the three lads to our squad as we continue our preparations for the news season and our opening fixture against Bray.
“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.”
Goalkeeper Barry Murphy joins the club for a second spell having spent time at Shamrock Rovers, while Byrne joins the Saints after spending a season at Bohemian FC in which he scored 10 league goals.
Alex O’Hanlon is a former St. Kevins Boys youth and the 20-year-old joins the club having spent five years at English Premier League side Liverpool.
The Dubliner featured in the club’s underage sides before being released last year and has previously starred for the Republic of Ireland U19 side.
Commenting on each of the new signings, Buckley admitted his delight at getting each of their signatures and believes each player can play a big part in the Saints’ season ahead.
“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 see him feature throughout the 2017 season.”
