In some ways, it was a disappointing end to the season for Galway United captain, Conor McCormack. A yellow card picked up in the 79th minute of the 2-2 draw with Sligo Rovers a week earlier was his 15th booking of the season, earning him a one-game suspension that ruled him out of last Friday’s game with Bohemians.

The good news that was expected to be announced yesterday for McCormack, and for United fans, is that the midfielder has signed on again for the 2025 season, where he will hope to add to his 126 appearance for the club in what will be his fifth season at Eamonn Deacy Park.

“I really enjoyed this season, it is a great time to be part of Galway United so we will sit down and hopefully get something sorted, I am happy how things have gone,” he said in Dalymount Park on Friday night after coming out of the dressing room following the end of that 1-1 draw with Bohs.

The “sit down” he was referring to was with United manager, John Caulfield, to discuss a new deal and it is no surprise that it all went so smoothly, with the United manager confirming to City Sport with a text message on Wednesday morning that his captain had indeed put pen to paper on a new deal.

All things considered, it was an incredible year for a United side that looked right at home in a first season back in the top-flight in seven years: tipped as relegation favourites, instead they were right in the mix at the other end of the table, in the mix for Europe for a long time, and even at one stage being involved in the chatter about the potential destination of the league title.

It was no fluke, but rather the rest of the work of the past couple of years, with further work already underway for 2025.

“The last two years we are definitely building, and it is a fantastic time to be part of this football club,” McCormack said.

“We are setting standards but that comes from the management team, they don’t accept anything less than high standards, and that is me as well as a senior professional, and you have Clarkey [Brendan Clarke], and Stephen Walsh who is playing in the league a long time, and other experienced players who don’t accept anything less in training.

“We push ourselves each day, that might have happened in other clubs this year, they didn’t have the experienced lads to push them through in difficult times, and that is probably why a couple of clubs have struggled in the Premier Division this year.

“We concentrate on our own game, we push ourselves and we go into every game knowing we will be competitive, and that is fair pay to the backroom staff and all the hard work that goes in behind the scenes, in training, all the detail we go into. It is a great time to be playing for Galway United and even captaining Galway United, it is an absolute privilege,” McCormack said.

You can have all the talent in the world, but McCormack says that United look for more than just talent when bringing in new players, and that is, he feels, something that has led to the success of the last couple of years.

Pictured: Conor McCormack (centre) wheels away in celebration afer scoring from the penalty spot in the 2-1 defeat at home to Shamrock Rovers in September, his only goal of the season and just his second for the club. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.