International defender extends his stay with the Cod Army
Fleetwood Town Football Club are delighted to announce that Conor McLaughlin has today put pen to paper on a three-year contract extension at Highbury.
Following goalkeeper Chris Maxwell, McLaughlin becomes the second member of the squad to extend his stay on the Fylde Coast ahead of the upcoming Sky Bet League One season.
The right back, who won the Club’s Players’ Player of the Year award last season, was a regular member of Graham Alexander’s side throughout the campaign and impressed with a number of eye-catching performances in a red and white shirt.
It’s been a whirlwind few weeks for the 22 year-old defender as after the Play-Off final victory over Burton Albion at Wembley, McLaughlin flew out to South America to team up with the Northern Ireland squad who faced Uruguay and Chile in World Cup warm-up games.
Speaking to the club’s official website after agreeing terms, the former Preston North End man said: “I’m delighted to sign on again here. It was a hard one to get done because I was obviously away with Northern Ireland in South America, and I’ve been away on holiday the past couple of weeks. I’m really happy to get it done now though.
“We’ve got an unbelievable set of lads here and a great manager, so it was a no-brainer for me to sign on again.”
McLaughlin admits that the hard work starts now ahead of what will be a testing season for the Cod Army in England’s third tier: “Last season couldn’t have gone any better really, and the situation I was in last pre-season is completely different to the one I’m in now.
“I’m going to have to get my head down now and work hard to make sure I’m in the team come the start of the campaign.”
Reflecting on the achievements of 2013/14, Conor insists that the players must now kick-on and follow in the footsteps of Rotherham United who earned back-to-back promotions to the Championship last month: “It seems as if it was only a couple of weeks ago since Wembley, but it was one of the best days of my career and it was amazing to celebrate it after with all the lads and the families. It gives me even more hunger to try and go and do the same thing again next year.”
He continued: “We’ve got a lot of quality in the team and we’re going to be able to step-up. Hopefully with the addition of a few more faces we’re going to go on and do well.”
With pre-season training just around the corner, McLaughlin now hopes that he continues to impress in order to gain a starting spot in the team come August: “I think every footballer will tell you that pre-season is the worst part of the season! It’s got to be done though and we need to make sure that we’re all fit for the start of the season and make sure we hit the ground running.”
So Conor has now signed up for the new season at Highbury, have you? Season tickets are on sale right now! For full information please click here
So Conor has now signed up for the new season at Highbury, have you? Season tickets are on sale right now! For full information please click here