Shanahan and Devers sign new deals with Galway

Galway United’s squad has been boosted to 15 with the news that Jesse Devers and Gary Shanahan have been awarded contracts for the 2017 season.

23-year-old Shanahan has become something of a club stalwart in his three seasons with the Tribesmen.  The former Dundalk and Mervue United player has contributed 16 goals in 106 appearances.

And manager Shane Keegan is delighted to capture the signature of the Newcastle West-born midfielder.

"I think Gary is rightly somewhat of a fan favourite. He was almost an ever-present in the season just finished and I suppose what any manager would say is that he's a player that you can absolutely trust.”

"He runs himself into the ground, if you give him a job, he goes and does it to the letter," continued the new boss at Eamonn Deacy Park.

"He's just a really solid footballer and he has a fantastic track record as well in terms of avoiding injuries and suspensions. Gary contributes massively and quite often with a player whose main attributes are their application and work-rate, you then tend to maybe overlook the actual qualities that they bring to the side as well.”

Mayo native Devers starred for Galway United’s under-19 team last season. The 19-year-old scored three times as the westerners, managed by Johnny Glynn, finished fourth in the league standings. United ultimately reached the final in which they lost to UCD.

Devers has also managed seven first team appearances since signing from Wolverhampton Wanderers before the start of the 2016 season. Vinny Faherty, Ronan Murray and Padraic Cunningham are established strikers at Deacy Park but Devers is expected to be in contention with that trio for a place in the starting eleven next season.

"Jesse hasn't really kicked a ball at first team level yet," Keegan explained. "I've sat down with senior players and last year's coaching staff, everybody is absolutely raving about Jesse, saying what he was doing on the training ground and the potential he has.

"I've said on a number of occasions that I get really excited by throwing young players into the first team if they've given me a reason to throw them in,” said Shane Keegan.

“Again, if Jesse performs as I've been told he's been capable of doing, he will find himself in there and it's up to himself to put his best foot forward."

This is a current list of confirmed Galway United players for next season:

Colm Horgan, Paul Sinnott, Lee Grace, Stephen Folan, Marc Ludden, Gary Shanahan, Alex Byrne, David Cawley, Gavan Holohan, Conor Melody, Kevin Devaney, Vinny Faherty, Ronan Murray, Padraic Cunningham, Jesse Devers.