LIMERICK FC captain Shane Duggan says everyone is aware of “the potential here” and that he “wants to be a part of it”, after he rejected other advances to stay with the club closest to his heart. The hometown midfielder admits he has “that extra love” for the club, where his father Ger won a League and FAI Cup in the early 1980s.
Duggan ended a five-year association with Cork City to move to Shannonside ahead of the 2014 season and he has now extended his stay, committing his future to the Superblues despite them being in the First Division next term.
The 26-year-old says that disappointment of relegation, after the bravest of attempts to avoid the trapdoor, has created a strong hunger among the whole squad to bring Limerick immediately back to the top flight. And he is relishing the challenge.
“I’m delighted – it’s brilliant now to get the deal finally done. I’m looking forward to pre-season and meeting up with the group of lads again,” Duggan told LimerickFC.ie.
“I feel the club, with the way we finished last season, there is a lot of potential going forward and I want to be part of that. I just hope we can get the club promoted back into the Premier Division where it belongs.
“I had a few other offers. For me, with the disappointment we had coming down, it would have been hard to walk away and leave the club in the First Division without trying to do anything to help it.
“There were offers on the table and I thought about it. I spoke to my wife Linda about it but I came to the decision that Limerick is the right club for me. We all know the potential that is here and I want to be part of that. It was pretty easy in the end.
“With it being my hometown I feel the pride that is around the place with supporters. Around town the last few weeks people are asking me if I’m signing back. Near the end of last season, everywhere you went people were talking about Limerick FC.
“It was brilliant to hear that, being a local lad. I’m pretty sure once the club gets a bit more success in the future it’s only going to get stronger and stronger. Growing up in Limerick is a bonus for me because I probably have that extra love for the club.
“Everyone in the club and Martin (Russell) too, he knows what he wants. He saw us as a group of players in the last few months of the season – the players are there and the potential is there.
“We really had a good team spirit last season and it was important that we kept that together; most of the lads have signed back and they’re committed because they see the potential that is there in the club.
“We all get along very well together so it’s important to keep that core base of players there again. Martin, Pat O’Sullivan and Kieran Judge are all doing that.
“For a club the size of ourselves and with moving back to the Markets Field, and the fan-base that is there, we have to go straight back to the Premier Division because that’s where the club belongs. I feel with the signings that we’re making that we can definitely go straight back up.”
Limerick’s 2016 squad to date: Freddy Hall, Shaun Kelly, Shane Tracy, Robbie Williams, Shane Duggan, Paul O’Conor, Paudie O’Connor, Killian Brouder, Seán McSweeney.
