The club is pleased to announce that three first team players – Willie Garrett, Stevie Gordon and Ross Redman - this weekend signed extended contracts with Glentoran.
Manager Ronnie McFall said of the development: “I’ve been pleased to work with the club and make recommendations on these new contracts and I believe this is good work for Glentoran. There are 2 things a club needs to always be careful of when it comes to player contracts. The first is to make sure the squad doesn’t all get old at the same time. We don’t have that problem here. The other is to make sure too many players’ contracts don’t expire at the same time. That’s something we’ve been keen to avoid. In the current environment in the Irish League there isn’t a vast amount of suitable talent available so it’s doubly important to keep the spine of the squad together as something to build on. These three lads all wanted to stay and they’re all a good age. They’re also good, established Irish Premiership players who have experience of winning things and who I think will get better over the course of these new contracts.
In my previous spell at the Oval I had ten great years as a player and manager. I learned then how this club works and that more than some other clubs its important to have a number of died in the wool Glenmen in the squad who have grown up as supporters in Glentoran families. Those sort of players will always put themselves on the line for the club and will help instil that in newer players who come in. Garrett and Gordon fit that bill and they’ve given it all for me since I came in.”
Willie Garrett (26) has been at the club for 15 years and is the first player to have come through every level of the Glentoran Academy, making his first team debut in November 2012 in a 1-1 home league draw with Cliftonville. This season he’s shown an incredible strength and resilience to come back from two years out injured and two ACL operations to firmly re establish himself at the heart of the defence, playing 14 matches since returning (again against Cliftonville at the venue where he suffered his injury) in December. Willie has played 80 matches for the first team, scoring 2 goals.
Willie said of his new contract: “Oviously I’m delighted to extend my contract for another 3 years with the club. It was a no brainer for me. It’s no secret I support the club so when they made it clear they wanted it done ASAP it was two quick conversations. I have had a tough couple of years with injuries as everyone knows but the club stuck by me throughout which I’ll always be grateful for and hopefully I can repay them over the next couple of seasons”. Willie was a key player in our 2015 Irish Cup final triumph.
Stevie Gordon has been around the club so long it’s easy to forget he’s still only 24. He’s been at the club for seven years and won the Steel & Sons Cup with Glentoran Seconds on Christmas Day 2012. He made his first team debut a month after Willie Garrett in a 5-0 home win over Donegal Celtic before spending the rest of rest of that season on loan with Ards in the premiership. So far Stevie has played 123 first team games, scoring 19 goals. He was also a virtual ever present in our 2015 cup run.
Stevie said this weekend: “I’m delighted to have signed a new contract. It has come completely out of the blue if I am being honest as I haven’t really featured as much as I would have liked this season, so a new contract wasn’t really on my mind at this stage. I had only one league start prior to Ronnie coming in but thankfully he has included me in his teams to date. Ronnie has put his faith in me to date and hopefully I can continue play as he expects me to remain in the team. I was happy to get things wrapped up very quickly and look forward giving my all towards the end of the season and beyond.
Ross Redman (28) joined us in the summer 2016 transfer window after spending 12 years at his hometown club Portadown under Ronnie McFall’s management. Ross has been long regarded as one of the Danske Bank Premiership’s top left backs and has represented Northern Ireland at U19 and U23 level and has also been selected to play for the Irish League v Manchester United in Harry Gregg’s Testimonial. Ross has now firmly re established himself in the team following a couple of injuries this season and gave a man of the match performance in Saturday’s Big Two match. Since joining, Ross has played 64 matches for the first team, scoring one goal.
Ross said of his new contract: “I’m very very pleased to sign a new contract with the Glens. Despite a tough couple of seasons for the club, I have really enjoyed my first two years playing with the club. The fans have been fantastic with me and have really got behind the team brilliantly recently. I’m determined to help us finish the season strong and really start to challenge at the top of the league next year. I’m looking forward to being involved in that.”
