General
- Thursday July 31st, 2008 @ 14:12
SAINTS SNAP UP CHESTER STRIKER
St Patrick's Athletic have completed the singing of striker John Murphy from Chester City for an undisclosed fee.
The clubs agreed a fee for the Whiston born forward on Tuesday. Having held preliminary discussions with Saints CEO Richard Sadlier, Murphy travelled to Dublin yesterday to inspect club's facilities and complete a medical.
Speaking to stpatsfc.com Murphy said:
“I first heard of St Pats interest on Saturday and to be honest it came as a bit of a surprise.
“Having spoken to Richard (Sadlier) and Johnny (McDonnell) I was very impressed with the clubs ambition.
“I'm looking forward to helping the club challenge for the league title and hopefully play in UEFA Cup should tomorrow's game go to plan.”
Murphy, who began his career at Chester City as a trainee and returned there for his second spell last season, admitted that he leaves the Deva Stadium with mixed emotions.
“It's always sad to leave a club where you've spent a large number of years there. Chester have a good first team squad and I wish them all the best for the new season.”
Saints boss John McDonnell has been searching far and wide for a striker during the transfer window and he was delighted to have secured Murphy's signature.
“John is a big strong centre forward and he's exactly what we've been looking for. He'll be a great addition to the squad and will give us something a bit different to what we have already.
“He was one of the players on our list of targets for this transfer window and its nice when it comes off. We looked at him last season before he signed for Chester but for one reason or another it didn't work out. We've pursued our interest and thankfully it's paid off.
Murphy has scored 142 goals in 489 appearances in all competitions during spells at Chester City, Macclesfield Town and Blackpool. He becomes the Saints fourth signing during the July transfer window following on from Derek O'Brien, Jason Gavin and Jaroslaw Bialek.
