St. Patrick’s Athletic complete the signing of Ruairi Keating

Ruairi Keating in action for Cork City

Ruairi Keating in action for Cork City Credit: David Ribeiro (ETPhotos)

The Saints make a statement of intent ahead of the new season after completing the signing of Ruairi Keating from Cork City. 

The 28-year-old signs a long-term deal with the Inchicore side which further strengthens Jon Daly's attacking options after the signatures of Brandon Kavanagh and Cian Kavanagh earlier this week. 

Keating was the standout player for the Leesiders last season having netted 15 times for Cork in all competitions, but his goals were unable to keep the club from suffering relegation to the First Division once again. 

Despite the disappointment of relegation, the Mayo man was recognised for his stellar performances as he was named in the 2023 PFAI Premier Division Team of the Season. 

The striker suffered a tragedy over the summer when his father Ciaran died in a car accident while he was travelling to the Showgrounds to watch his son play for Cork against Sligo. 

"It feels brilliant, I'm really excited, it's a great opportunity for me and my family and I can't wait to get going”, Keating said to the St. Pat’s media team upon signing for the club.  

From speaking to the Manager here (Jon Daly) and the Chairman (Garrett Kelleher), everything has gone really well, from the first chat we had, it's been made very easy from me. I think we have the same vision going forward, and hopefully we can have lots of success in the future.

St Patrick's Athletic is a wonderful football club, Richmond Park is a great place to play football, the atmosphere here is brilliant and I'm really looking forward to playing here in red, and not getting roared at from the Pat's fans, it's going to be great.

I want to play as much as I can, score as many goals as I can and get this club to the top of the league."

The FAI Cup winners boss Jon Daly stated his delight of securing the former Torquay striker’s signature. 



“He has shown over the last number of years that he is one of the best strikers in the country.

“Ruairi has scored almost 30 goals across the last two years, including 13 in the league season just finished, including against us, so we know what he’s capable of.

“He had offers from a number of other clubs in Ireland and abroad, so we’re delighted that he’s chosen to join St Patrick’s Athletic.”

About Luke Jordan

Luke joined the extratime.com team in 2022 and is the current host of the extratime.com podcast.

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