General
- Thursday November 23rd, 2023 @ 12:00
Ruairi Keating Joins On Long Term Contract
St Patrick's Athletic are thrilled to announce the capture of striker Ruairi Keating, who joins us from Cork City, on a long term contract.
The 28-year-old, who has been nominated for PFAI Premier Division Player of the Year alongside his new team-mate Chris Forrester, scored 15 goals in all competitions last season, including 13 in the league. Ruairi has also been named in the PFAI Premier Division Team of the Season for 2023.
The former Sligo Rovers, Galway United, Finn Harps and Gateshead man also played over 100 games for Torquay in the National League.
He joined Cork City for the beginning of the 2022 LOI season, and played a key role in helping them win the First Division and promotion back to the top flight, scoring 13 times in the league, meaning his league tally over the last two seasons is 26 goals.
Keating told our Youtube channel why he's joined The Saints
"It feels brilliant, I'm really really excited, it's a great opportunity for me and my family and I can't wait to get going.
It's been a very difficult decision to make, I love Cork City and what the people there have done for me, it's a amazing football club and I've made friends for life down there, I wish them nothing but but best going forward, unfortunately it's time to move on.
From speaking to the Manager here (Jon Daly) and the Chairman (Garrett Kelleher), everything has gone really well, from the first chat we had, it's been made very easy from me. I think we have the same vision going forward, and hopefully we can have lots of success in the future.
St Patrick's Athletic is a wonderful football club, Richmond Park is a great place to play football, the atmosphere here is brilliant and I'm really looking forward to playing here in red, and not getting roared at from the Pat's fans, it's going to be great.
I want to play as much as I can, score as many goals as I can and get this club to the top of the league."
Watch Ruairi's first interview as a Saint on our Youtube channel.
Manager Jon Daly is delighted to welcome Keating to Richmond Park
"Everyone at the club is very happy to welcome Ruairi, we're looking forward to working with him.
He has shown over the last number of years that he is one of the best strikers in the country.
Ruairi has scored almost 30 goals across the last 2 years, including 13 in the league season just finished, including against us, so we know what he's capable of.
He had offers from a number of other clubs in Ireland and abroad, so we're delighted that he's chosen to join St Patrick's Athletic.
At 28, he's heading into the prime of his career and he'll add great experience to our front young line and will help Tommy Lonergan, Mason Melia, Cian Kavanagh and our other attackers with their development and overall game.
We were the second top scorers in the Premier Division last season, so to add a quality striker like Ruairi to the group will only make us stronger in the attacking department."
Technical Director Alan Mathews added:
"We're delighted to welcome Ruairi on board, we have added really well to the attacking part of the team.
We've been able to secure the signings of a number of new arrivals this week, as well as existing player contract renewals, we're happy to be have able to do that very quickly after the end of the season and the cup final win.
We will have further updates on our 2024 squad shortly."
You can see Ruairi's first photos as a Saint on our Twitter page
