Waterford FC confirms signing of Pádraig Almond

Waterford FC has confirmed the signing of experienced striker Pádraig Amond on a two-year deal.

The attacker has played abroad for the last 13 years and and will be an experienced addition to Keith Long’s squad.

The 35-year-old also has experience in the League of Ireland, having made over 100 appearances in the league with spells with Shamrock Rovers, Kildare County and Sligo Rovers before playing abroad in Portugal and England.

Amond had a very successful career in England – in particular with Newport County where he made over 150 appearances in a five-year period.

He also spent time in Portugal with F.C. Paços de Ferreira before moving to England to have spells at clubs such as Accrington Stanley, Grimsby Town, Hartlepool, Newport County & Exeter City – before spending two seasons with Woking FC where he scored 17 times for the National League side.

Head Coach Keith Long looking forward to work with the Blues newest signing and said on the Waterford FC website: "We're delighted to have Pádraig at the club. His leadership qualities and experience will be invaluable to us. He’s a model pro and we hope that he’ll pass on those qualities to some of our younger players to help us in the Premier Division.

"He looks after himself extremely well, he’s in great condition. We’re going to need players of his quality, with his experience, his background. I’m delighted that he saw his future at Waterford. We’re looking forward to working with him. He’s  been in and around training and looks really sharp.

"He’s given everybody a bit of a lift coming in, so it’s positive, and on a personal level I’m looking forward to working with Podge because, from a managers point of view, it’s always good to tap in to different experiences. Podge has played and had an extensive career over many-many years. That’s something that the coaching staff will look to tap into over the course of the season,” Mr Long said.

Speaking to Waterford FC online,  Pádraig Amond said: "I’m delighted to have signed; delighted to be back home. Looking forward to seeing what the year is going to be like, so I’m really pleased to be here – it’s a really exciting time.

"I think it’s quite a young squad, so I’m hoping I can use my experiences that I’ve had in my career so far to help those younger players and which in-turn will help the club as well. I’m here to learn from them too, and use their youthful exuberance to keep me along the way as well. I met the lads this morning and they all seem to be really good. They’re all keen to learn, always asking questions so far, so long may that continue and hopefully that can be successful for us all.

"I’m really excited. I know there’s quite a lot of season tickets sold already, and the attendance in the league over the last three/four years has really shot up so it’s a really exciting time for the league, and obviously with Waterford being back in the Premier Division it’s a great opportunity for the city and for the club to build on that and the successes of the last couple of years, and in-turn hopefully that will bring more fans in through the turnstiles and bigger crowds. Hopefully the fans can get right behind us, and we can do the job on the pitch, and they support us off the field then hopefully we can have a successful year together," he said.