Rory Feely leaves Saints to join newly-promoted Waterford

Waterford have strengthened their ranks ahead of the 2018 Premier Division season with the signature of the highly-coveted young star Rory Feely from St Patrick’s Athletic on a one-year deal.

 

Feely, who has represented Kildare in Gaelic football where he helped his county to a Leinster under-21 championship final, has spent the past three years with St Patrick's Athletic.

 

The 20-year-old decided to pack in the GAA for the glamour of League of Ireland football as he began to make his mark on the first team in Inchicore during the 2017 season.

 

After 42 appearances for the Supersaints at Richmond Park and some interest from Turner's Cross, the defender has decided to move to the sunny south-east to join forces with Waterford.

 

“I am very happy to link up with Waterford FC ahead of the new season,” Feely told the Blues' official website.

 



“I’m originally from Tramore so I have grown up with the Blues as my local League of Ireland club.

 

“I kept a keen eye last season during the promotion push and I now hope to be a part of something big for the club going forward.

 

“I worked with Alan [Reynolds] at St. Pat’s and enjoyed the way he works so when there was interest shown I was very happy to join.

 



“I am looking forward to competing for a starting place and being part of a competitive team at the top end of the table.”

 

Feely is hoping that he can nail down a more consistent position in the first team having been used as a utility player by Liam Buckley at Pats

 

“As a player, I’ve been tried in a few positions over the last couple of seasons, primarily due to my aerial ability but hopefully Blues’ fans will see me deployed in a more attacking role where I feel most comfortable. Ultimately, I just want to work hard and break into the team early on.”

 

Reynolds added: “We’re delighted to have Rory on board. He is another young player with plenty of scope for development and one that I worked with when coaching at St. Pat’s Athletic.

 

“He has an excellent attitude and hopefully as a club we can push him on to achieve his full potential.”