Robbie Benson heads back to Oriel Park

Robbie Benson celebrates scoring for St. Pat's in Oriel Park lsat July

Robbie Benson celebrates scoring for St. Pat's in Oriel Park lsat July Credit: Michael P Ryan (ETPhotos)

Stephen O’Donnell returned to Richmond Park to make his first signing as Dundalk head coach with the capture of Robbie Benson. 

The former-UCD midfielder makes a return to Oriel Park less than a month after scoring the winning penalty for St Patrick’s Athletic in the FAI Cup Final in his second season at the club.

Having started his career with hometown club Athlone Town, the creative midfielder spent a period with UCD before joining Stephen Kenny’s Lilywhites in 2016. 

He netted a number of European goals for the club that season, including memorable strikes against both Legia Warsaw and BATE Borisov before going on to become an integral member of league winning squads in 2016, 2018 and 2019. 

He departed the club at the end of the 2019 season to join his former Oriel Park teammate O’Donnell in Inchicore.

Speaking to dundalkfc.com, Benson was effusive in his praise of the Galwegian. “When I started my career, Stephen was a big influence on me as a player and he helped me along the way. He is someone I look up to and I appreciate the involvement he has had on my career. 

“He was great for me at St Pat’s and now that he has decided to come to Dundalk, I weighed up what I wanted to do, I looked at the project he wants to help build here, and I’m really looking forward to it”.

That enthusiasm was shared by O’Donnell when speaking about Benson coming back to the County Louth to his club’s media. “I don’t need to tell our supporters what Robbie Benson is capable of, he’s obviously been away for a couple of years and done very well but he’s back and I’m delighted to get him on board.

"The association between the club and Robbie is there from some great times so it’s brilliant to get him back.

“As you grow older it’s natural that you become more mature and Robbie is no different. He’s not your typical leader maybe in how loud he is but he leads by example with his performances and by giving little bits of advice to players. When you marry that with his football ability, it’s a great asset”.



    About Tom O'Connor

    Dundalk based reporter following the league since Monaghan United’s goalless draw against Athlone Town in 1996. Special interest in education and underage football. Shortlisted for the 2018 FAI Communications Award for series on Life beyond … View Full Profile