Jamie-Dean McDonagh was this week announced as the eighth new signing at Derry City ahead of the new season and we caught up with the twenty one year old following the announcement.
The Lisburn man had a strong finish to last season as he played a big part in Sligo Rovers survival in the top flight, during a short three-month spell at the club. From the beginning it was agreed that it would be a short term deal and he is delighted to have now signed a more extensive deal with the Candystripes so early in the off season. McDonagh said, “I had only signed with Sligo for the remainder of the 2017 season and really enjoyed my time there. It was a good experience being in a relegation battle. It also gave me a platform to prove myself over a short period of time in the SSE Airtricity League and I am very grateful for the opportunity Manager Gerard Lyttle and everyone at Sligo Rovers gave me.”
Looking towards the future and ahead of his first spell at the Brandywell Stadium Jamie beamed, “I'm very excited for the next chapter of my career and over the moon to be part of this great club. It's a great club for young players and a great stepping stone for people like me of a similar age, as you can see with the amount of players that have moved on from Derry.”
Derry City boss Kenny Shiels is a man who is held in very high regard within the league and Jamie was delighted to discover it was Kenny who was on the other end of the line when his phone rang. When asked about the decision he said “Yeah it was an easy decision for me once I met with Kenny, he's an ambitious manger and will do anything to help young players like myself develop. He also plays great football.”
McDonagh continued, “Everything he said to me sounded great for my situation and what I want to do with my career. I was waiting around for a few weeks and once he had called I met him as soon as possible and spoke with my agent and it all got done quite quickly after that. Having a manger that is interested in you is always a massive bonus as he knows what I am capable of and that was a big factor definitely.”
As a fitting reward for his very impressive performances during his brief time at Sligo Rovers, Jamie was deservedly given an international call up with Northern Ireland towards the end of the summer. He featured in their recent U21 European Championship qualifiers against Slovakia, Estonia and Albania, and the exciting young winger will be hoping to earn as much playing time as possible next season to boost his chances of further international call ups down the line.
McDonagh knows how important game-time is for his International aspirations, “Of course, playing regularly with your club side is a big influencing factor on being called up for international duty. As you know, Derry city have produced quite a few internationals and that's all as a result of playing games and showing what they can do and I'm hoping for more international call ups myself when the games come around but I will need to work my way into the team and prove that I am good enough to wear the Derry shirt first.”
Armin Aganovic, Conor Agnew, Dapo Kayode, David Hopkirk, Gavin Peers, John Cofie and Rory Hale are the other new additions which have arrived in the door just ahead of Jamie as Kenny Shiels continues his careful preparation for the season ahead. They kick-off their league campaign against Waterford FC at the RSC on February 16th.
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