Former St Pat’s player Darragh signs for Hoops

FORMER St Patrick’s Athletic player Darragh Burns signed for defending Airtricity League champions Shamrock Rovers on a season-long loan deal from English League Two side MK Dons.

The talented winger signed for MK Dons during the summer of 2022 from St Pat’s were he made four league starts and 10 substitute appearances last season and scored four goals in a further eight cup competition ties.

Two of the goals were in the FA Cup in November 2022, with an overhead kick in a win over Newport County before netting the opener against Portsmouth at Fratton Park, but the Dons were knocked out and relegated to League Two.

He played two EFL Trophy games this campaign, scoring a goal against Northampton Town a little over a month ago.

His arrival to Shamrock Rovers is a massive boost for the side who will be playing in Europe this year but more importantly aiming for five-in-a-row.

Speaking to shamrockrovers.ie, Head Coach Stephen Bradley said, “Darragh is one that we’ve always liked and we tried to sign him before he moved to England.

“We feel he has different attributes to what we already have in the attacking part of the pitch, which is really important and it gives us a good blend.”

“We’ve tried to get him before and now that we can, he’s going to be a good addition to the group.

“We’re delighted to get him in and get started.

“I’ve been speaking to Darragh regularly for some time and one thing he’s eager to do is to get back playing and show everyone what he’s about and hopefully we can help him do that.

“He’s really eager to get on the pitch and back playing.”

Darragh represented Northern Ireland at U17 and U19 level but switched allegiance to Jim Crawford’s Republic of Ireland U-21’s.