Former Mervue United striker Rory Gaffney has
completed his move from Salford City to Shamrock Rovers following a medical
this afternoon. The Tuam native joined Salford City on a three year contract in
June 2018 scoring 12 goals in 33 starts after spells with Limerick and Bristol
Rovers.
Speaking about capturing the signature of the
striker, head coach Stephen Bradley said:
“I’m really happy to get Rory in. It’s something
myself and Stephen McPhail have been working on and thankfully we managed to
get it done. Rory obviously knows about the League from having played in it and
watched it from afar over the years.
He had another year on his contract left so when I
spoke to him he was very interested. He knew a lot about our group so when we
spoke he was very keen to get it done.
Rory is a player I know really well having played
with him a few years back at Limerick. I think he fits the way we play and fits
as a person as well, so he ticks all the right boxes for us. Rory will score
goals for us, there’s no doubt about that.
I’ve played with him so I know what he’s like and
what his movements are like. He suits the way we play and he has all the
attributes to score goals for us.
If you look all over the squad there’s really strong
competition and I think Rory along with Aaron, Graham and Dean gives us good
options up the top end of the pitch.”
Speaking to www.shamrockrovers.ie
Gaffney said:
“I’m absolutely delighted to sign to Shamrock
Rovers. It kind of happened quickly over the last couple of days but I thought
it was just too good an opportunity to turn down. I had spoken to the club
before I went away to England initially and it was always a team that if I came
back to Ireland I wanted to sign for. It’s the best club in Ireland. If any
other club had rang me I wouldn’t have been too interested in coming home. It’s
really just happened in the last three or four days and I was happy to take the
chance.
I went to Cambridge and it turned out to be a bit of
a disaster because I got injured straight away. I needed an operation so I
never really had a chance there. I went to Bristol Rovers and that was
definitely the best time that I had in England in the couple of years that I
had there. At Salford, I started off alright but to be honest the last twelve
months I’d gone stale there. I didn’t play for the last couple of months at
Salford and I only played bits and pieces for Walsall [on loan] this year. I
didn’t want to try and start doing the rounds at lower league clubs in England.
I would much rather move home and play for the best club in Ireland.
I watched as many League of Ireland games on
television as I could in England, I used to enjoy tuning in on a Friday night
when they were broadcast. Rovers were nearly always on TV and I saw a couple of
the Dublin derbies last year and the games against Dundalk. I’d know all the
players from the League. I knew the type of player Stephen Bradley was [as a
teammate at Limerick] and, from watching Rovers, I knew what type of football
they were playing. He was a technical player and it’s clear to see his teams
are a footballing side. I haven’t played for too many managers that want to
play football like him.
I want to challenge for leagues and cups and there’s
European football as well in the summer, that’ll be a new experience for me and
I can’t wait for it. I haven’t really scored goals in the last twelve months
but I’m confident that in this team, the way they play and with the midfield
and attacking players they have, they’ll definitely create chances. So it’s up
to me to put them away.”
