Swifts ‘keeper Morgan in possession for the Swifts
Photo Courtesy of presseye.com
Swifts goalkeeper Niall Morgan will leave Stangmore Park in mid-January to concentrate on fulfilling his dream on playing GAA for Tyrone. Morgan who was called up to Mickey Harte’s Tyrone squad in late November has admitted leaving the club is the hardest decision he has ever had to make.
Morgan is one of the best young prospects in local football and his departure from the club comes as a massive loss to us but one that Darren Murphy along with Pat McGibbon will work swiftly to recover from. Morgan will be available for the club throughout December and part of January before linking up with Tyrone.
After being named in Harte’s new look squad for the 2013 campaign, Murphy told Morgan that he needed to make the decision whether his long term future was with Dungannon Swifts or Tyrone GAA.
Morgan has now decided his future lies with Tyrone – but he admitted it has been an agonising choice…
“It was probably the most difficult decision of my life, everyone says you have to choose at some stage, and it is unfortunate it has come this way. It was hard to choose between playing football for the club I’ve been with since I was a kid or playing GAA for my County. I knew that if I gave up at this stage that I wouldn’t get another chance. I’ve now taken the chance, I’ll see how it goes but I’m still contracted to Dungannon so if I ever decide to come back to the Irish League there will only be one club that I’ll go to.”
A disappointed but understand Swifts Manager, Darren Murphy, had these words to say about losing Morgan;
“While football is my game, I am a sports person first and foremost, and I understand that Niall has dreams and ambitions. He is a young lad from Tyrone who wants to play for them at the highest possible level. I can fully appreciate that and he goes with my best wishes, and I sincerely mean that.”
Dungannon Swifts as a Club would like to Thank Niall for his committed service to the club throughout his entire football career to date. Niall started out as a fresh faced youngster in nets for Dungannon United Youth, he has come a long way to where he is today featuring for Northern Ireland at various under age levels and most recently was back up keeper for the Northern Ireland Under 21 squad this year.
As Niall will remain under contract for the club and will also carry on playing in a Swifts jersey until mid-January, we would like everyone to continue showing him and the rest of the team all the support and encouragement you can. Niall remains an instrumental and important member of our team over the holiday period with some difficult fixtures coming up for the Swifts.
Morgan saves a shot v Linfield in October 2012. Photo Courtesy of presseye.com