Sligo Rovers are thrilled to announce that the club have agreed a deal with Oxford United to extend Ed McGinty’s loan deal to the end of the 2024 season, subject to international transfer clearance. The Rovers goalkeeper has been in superb form for the Bit O’Red this year, keeping eight clean sheets in this year’s Premier Division to date.
A firm fans’ favourite since he broke through to become the Bit O’Red’s first choice net-minder in 2019, the Motherwell born shot stopper is widely regarded in League of Ireland circles as one of the best in the country.
McGinty joined Rovers in 2016 following spells in the youth academies of both Hibs and Glasgow Celtic. He made his Rovers debut from the bench against Drogheda United in late 2017, replacing the injured Shaun Patton at Weaver’s Park in a scoreless draw which saw Rovers secure their status as a top flight club for the following season.
The now 24-year-old acted as back-up to Micheal Schlingermann the following year and subsequently Mitchell Beeney, before making the number one shirt his own in mid-2019.
McGinty went on to put in a number of memorable performances for Rovers, most notably his penalty shoot-out heroics against Bala Town in the Europa Conference League first round in 2022. McGinty stopped two of Bala’s spot-kicks to see Rovers progress to face and subsequently knock out Ed’s home-town club Motherwell.
His performance didn’t go unnoticed and a short number of days later, he signed for Oxford United. McGinty returned to the Bit O’Red on loan earlier this year and has gone on to re-establish himself as the top goalkeeper in Ireland.
“I’m delighted to get it done”, McGinty said.
“It can be a weird time when the window opens so it’s nice to have the peace of mind and security. It’s great to be able to move on now and stick with Rovers and with John Russell.
“John spoke to me about extending the deal quite a while back. I’m ambitious and I want to challenge myself and it felt right to stay in Sligo. There was interest from here and there but for me everything nicely fell into place and it just felt right to stay here.
“I feel the love from the supporters and the people of Sligo and the club is in my heart at this stage. I learned the game during my first few years here and got into the team and learned a lot. My first stint here gave me a lot of great memories and this time around, it’s all about pushing on and creating more moments. Europe is there for us and we want to really push on now. John has recruited very strategically so it’s just about keeping players on the pitch. If we have our best eleven fit, we can do anything. We’ve already beaten the champions Shamrock Rovers and the league leaders Shels this season. If we can stay consistent, then who knows where we’ll end up.”
Speaking about McGinty’s decision to extend his stay, manager Russell says: “We have the best goalkeeper in Ireland.
“He has been a big presence for us both one and off the pitch so I’m delighted he has agreed to extend his loan to the end of this season.
“Understandably, there was a lot of interest in Ed. But we worked very hard to keep him. What’s most exciting for me, is that there is more to come from Ed. He has the right mentality and is driven to succeed.
“This is a deal I know will delight our fans.”
David Goulden