General
- Friday November 1st, 2024 @ 13:30
Jamie Lennon Signs New Long Term Contract
There has been some more good news at Richmond Park on Friday morning with the confirmation that Jamie Lennon has signed a new long term contract to take him into the 10th season and beyond at St Patrick's Athletic.
Following in the footsteps of Danny Rogers and Anto Breslin, Lennon has become the third senior player to commit his future to the club over the last week.
Lennon made his league debut in the third game the 2018 campaign away to Waterford as a 19-year-old and has played 217 times for St Pat's, 177 of them in the league, scoring five times and playing a key role in our 2021 and 2023 Sports Direct FAI Cup wins.
He is our longest serving current player in a continuous spell and is fondly known as "one of our own" among the St Patrick's Athletic supporters.
In the current squad, only Chris Forrester has played more games for St Pat's than Jamie, across his two spells.
Lennon (now 27) joined our U19s in January 2016 from Shelbourne and spent two seasons in The Saints Academy before progressing to the senior squad under Liam Buckley, signing his professional contract in December 2017.
He made his first team debut in August 2017 in a Leinster Senior Cup game against Firhouse Clover at Richmond Park, scoring his first senior goal for the club that day, a cracker from outside the box.
Lennon was part of our FAI Cup successes in 2021 and 2023, starting both finals against Bohemians, as The Saints won the competition on both occasions, Jamie was named Player of the Match in the 2023 showpiece and St Patrick's Athletic November Player of the Month.
Jamie started 2024 by scoring the winner in the 1-0 victory in Galway on the opening night of this season and has played a key role in our recent eight wins in a row, as well as staring during the 6-game European run in the summer.
The Dubliner is an Ireland U21 international and was capped four times by Stephen Kenny (now St Patrick's Athletic Manager) in 2020 and 2021, scoring his first U21 goal for his country away to Luxembourg in November 2020 in a UEFA European U21 Championship qualifier, he was called in the Ireland U21 squad for the Toulon Tournament in France for games against China, Mexico and Bahrain.
Lennon said:
"I'm delighted to finally get it done, I've been at the club a long time now, this is the end of my 7th season at senior level and ninth overall, the club means a lot to me so to stay here for the next few of years is really important to me and I'm glad it's over the line now.
The direction the club is going, I've seen a change from when I first broke into the team to what it's become now, we've had some success in the last couple of years with the cups (in 2021 and 2023) and the European run this season.
The Gaffer (Stephen Kenny) coming in halfway through the season, seeing the process that we've made and the squad he's trying to build, the facilities, the training group etc, I think the club is pulling in the right direction and it's something that I really want to be a part of so I'm delighted it's done."
Watch our full 10 minute interview with Jamie on our YouTube channel below.
Manager Stephen Kenny has been speaking about Lennon's new long term contract:
"It's brilliant news that Jamie has re-signed.
I selected Jamie for the U21s international team in 2019 in Toulon, Zack Elbouzedi was also in that squad, and I have followed Jamie's career closely since.
When I came in in the summer, Jamie informed me that he was ready to leave the club to go to America at the end of this season, he had a couple of opportunities to go there to the USL, so we are absolutely delighted that has chosen to stay, having come through the Academy here himself, Jamie is an integral part of the fabric of St Patrick's Athletic.
In terms of consistency of performance and high standards, he was been overall our most consistent performer during my time at the club so far.
His level of passing, his standards in mid to longe range passing, has become so consistent and is at such a high level, he's also made the most tackles in the league and his ability to intercept attacks and read defensive situations is outstanding.
There's not many players like him, the form he showed in the 6 European games against high level opposition, and in the (8 straight victories) in the league recently, has been at a really high level and we want to build the team around Jamie.
He is a conventional number 6 but much more than that, he's our Rodri, in terms of the job he does. Jamie has without doubt, in my opinion, got the capacity to show he is one of the best players in the league over the next number of years."
Director of Football Ger O'Brien added:
"Resigning Jamie has been one of the top priorities for the Football Club this season.
He is the ultimate professional who gives everyone he possibly can every time he puts on the St Patrick's Athletic shirt.
It's evident how loved he is by our supporters and everyone at the club, and I'm delighted that we'll get to see him lining out at Richmond Park for the next number of years."
