Dundalk FC is delighted to announce that Darragh Leahy has become the latest player to commit his future to the club, the full-back signing a new two-year contract with the Lilywhites.
Leahy made 28 league appearances this season, scoring three goals, as Dundalk secured a third-placed finish – and qualification for next summer’s UEFA Europa Conference League qualifiers.
The new deal will take the 24-year-old into his fourth season at Oriel Park and he told dundalkfc.com that he was thrilled to extend his stay.
“Once the season ended and the gaffer sat down with me and said he wanted to keep me, I was absolutely delighted,” said Leahy.
“My first year at the club in 2020 was interrupted by COVID and 2021 was tough, to say the least, so this season, especially at the back end when we were pushing for Europe and the fans really got behind us, was unreal and I loved it.
“It was my first year working with Stephen (O’Donnell), Padge (Cregg) and Dave (Mackey) and I learned so much so I’m really looking forward to improving even more over the next two years.
“We’re going into Christmas and January with a lot more structure and planning behind us than we had this time 12 months ago.
“We all have programmes to do and we’re in a couple of times over the next few weeks so we’ll be raring to go come pre-season.”
“I’m delighted that Darragh has chosen to stay and try and develop himself even more at Oriel Park,” said Dundalk FC head coach Stephen O’Donnell.
“He missed the first part of the season after getting injured in the Jim Malone Cup but when he came back into the side he found his rhythm, gave us real balance and I thought he had a really good campaign.
“He gives us real variety and has the kind of profile we want in our squad, someone who’s at the stage of his career where he is ready to kick on and go up another level.”