Dundalk FC is delighted to announce that Patrick Hoban has signed a new long-term contract with the club.

The 30-year-old, who has won three SSSE Airtricity League titles and a clutch of domestic cup medals across two spells with the Lilywhites, put pen to paper on the deal at Oriel Park on Thursday afternoon.

Hoban has been an integral part of the club’s success over the past decade and he said the arrival of head coach Stephen O’Donnell was a clear indication of Dundalk’s ambitions under the ownership of Andy Connolly, Sean O’Connor and Alan Clarke.

“I’m absolutely buzzing to sign a long-term deal. Seeing Stevie come in the door definitely made things clearer for me to sign back and, hopefully, finish my career here.

“Last year, no one knew where they stood but it’s good now that the takeover has happened and the new owners have brought Stevie in as head coach. That is massive for the club and I’m really excited to start working with him.”

After finishing as Dundalk’s top scorer in each of his six previous seasons at Oriel Park, Hoban enters 2022 with a haul of 125 goals to his name, just 17 short of Joey Donnelly’s all-time record for the club.

Dundalk FC head coach Stephen O’Donnell and Patrick Hoban. Photo by Dundalk FC

“I have a record in sight and I want to create history here,” he said. There’s only a small minority of people who set records like that at clubs and I want to be one of them. I want to smash the record and leave something there for a player to try and emulate in the future.

“I didn’t want to go anywhere else,” he added. “My life is here and I love being here and being in town. There is a real buzz around the place again and now we can start to concentrate on working hard next year and building something again.”

O’Donnell was a teammate of Hoban’s during the Stephen Kenny era and he said he was looking forward to working with the striker in his new role at Oriel Park.

“We’re delighted to have Pat on board,” said O’Donnell. “I really enjoyed playing with him and I can’t wait to get hands-on with him on the training field now.

“I thought his form towards the end of last season was tremendous. Everything about his play was exactly what you would want from your frontman and we’ll be looking to get that from him again next year.

“This is the start of something new and exciting at the club and Pat is really keen to be a part of it. He will be a mainstay of it in regards to his character and his presence around the place. Getting him on board is a great starting point to build around.”