General
- Monday November 27th, 2023 @ 12:45
McClelland Extends Saints Contract
St Patrick's Athletic are delighted to confirm that Jay McClelland has extended his contract with the club.
The 26-year-old, who has won two FAI Cups at St Pat's, will be heading into his fifth season at Richmond Park.
Jay initially signed for The Saints in November 2019 from UCD AFC ahead of the 2020 season, he is one of the longest serving and most experienced players at St Patrick's Athletic.
He has made 95 senior appearances so far, scoring eight times, only Chris Forrester and Jamie Lennon have played more matches for St Pat’s.
McClelland was part our 2021 and 2023 FAI Cup winning teams, coming on in both cup final wins against Bohemians at Aviva Stadium.
Jay made his competitive debut on February 14th 2020 in the opening game of the season against Waterford.
McClelland has proved to be a penalty expert, having scored from the spot in our FAI Cup 1/4 final win in Cork in 2021, in the FAI Cup Final against Bohemians at The Aviva in November 2021 and in our dramatic penalty shootout win away to NS Mura of Slovenia in the UEFA Europa Conference League 2nd qualifying round in the summer of 2022.
Jay said:
"I'm delighted to extend my deal at St Pat's, the last four years have been amazing, and I've had some great days at the club so far, especially the two cup finals.
Winning one on penalties and the other just a few weeks ago was amazing, it was great to be able to enjoy the celebrations a bit earlier this year after Tommy's goal to make it 3-1.
As soon as I signed in November 2019, I've felt a part of the club, that's down to the great people involved in this fantastic club.
I'm looking forward to the new season and hopefully we can improve on a really good couple of years and build on what we've done so far domestically and hopefully Europe can go a little bit better too."
Manager Jon Daly said:
"It's fantastic to have Jay commit to the club.
He is an extremely talented player who put in some very impressive performances last term.
Still only 26, he is now seen as one of our more experienced players.
We will be looking to him to help set the standards within the group next year."
The winger started out with Shamrock Rovers underage then had spells with Templeogue United, Peamount United and Crumlin United before returning to Rovers at U19 level.
McClelland joined UCD AFC in July 2015 and moved quickly from their U19s into their First Team, making his first senior appearance in a friendly against Liverpool in July 2015 before making his LOI debut against Cabinteely in the First Division the same month.
He made over 100 appearances for The Students and was part of their 2018 First Division winning squad.
McClelland is also an Ireland U19 international.
