SLIGO ROVERS MIDFIELDER Greg Bolger has signed a new contract with the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division club.
The Bit O’Red announced that the 33-year-old had committed for the 2022 season this morning, meaning a second campaign at The Showgrounds for the League of Ireland stalwart.
Bolger joined after three seasons at Shamrock Rovers, where he enjoyed league success in 2020 and FAI Cup glory in 2019. Before that, he was a 2017 league and cup double winner at Cork City.
A key player for Sligo this season, Bolger won the SSE Airtricity League Player of the Month for May and has continued to make his impact felt ever since, despite a recent injury setback.
“I’ve really enjoyed it in Sligo,” he said as he re-signed. “I’ve really enjoyed the place, the club and the faith that has been shown in me. I’m delighted to sign for next season because I want to be here.
“From the minute I came down, the people at the club have been so welcoming and can’t do enough for you. As a player you are really appreciated and I value that.
“We started the season really well and things have obviously dipped in the last while. The table doesn’t lie though. We’re in third place. We’re a good team. At the moment we’re frustrated and we’re hurting. But our season is this now.
“It’s five games to show we deserve to get Europe and a third-place finish is there if we can take it. If we don’t get it, we won’t deserve it, so the challenge is there for us. We have to embrace it.
“I’m signing because I really believe in what we have here. This season has to be played out so my focus is on that but I’m just delighted to know I’ll be here next year because there is a lot great things going on at the club and I think it’s a brilliant place to be.”
🔴⚪️✍🏼✍🏼🔴⚪️@Greggyb6 has signed a new contract with Sligo Rovers as the midfielder extends his stay at The Showgrounds.
— Sligo Rovers (@sligorovers) October 29, 2021
Read more: https://t.co/fhhUC9EnEC #bitored pic.twitter.com/lbCTuwpIWD
Rovers boss Liam Buckley hailed the experienced midfielder, who also previously had a trophy-laden spell with St Pat’s, winning the league in 2013 and cup in 2014.
“Greg has been very influential this season. First and foremost he’s been excellent for us from a football point of view and a big player for us. He also is a leader, vocal on the pitch and those elements that he brings are important to the group.
“I’m delighted he has signed because he has done really well. We have missed him recently and I feel next season he will make another major contribution in many different ways. I think we’ll see Greg’s influence continue in the future.”
Bolger returns to face Drogheda tonight after an injury setback which saw him sidelined for two games.
“I’m not good at watching football from the sidelines,” he added, speaking at the announcement of INTERSPORT Elverys becoming official retail partner of Sligo Rovers. “I’m raring to go for Friday night.
“I’ve missed the last two games and I had a couple of knocks which impacted on training and we had a tough schedule of three games a week during that time as well.
“I’ve trained for the last two weeks knowing the final five games are to come. I can’t wait for the game and to be playing for this club and I’m really happy that will include next season as well.”
Bernard Jackman, Murray Kinsella, and Gavan Casey assess the provinces’ first URC blocks and look ahead to November for the Ireland men’s and women’s teams on The42 Rugby Weekly:
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