Young player Paddy Burns has indicated that he will be leaving the club at the end of the season. Paddy has been successful in obtaining a scholarship at the prestigious Notre Dame University in the USA. The younger brother of Bobby, Paddy made his debut on November 27th 2017 in a 2-1 Mid-Ulster Cup semi-final victory against Portadown at Shamrock Park and went on to make 25 appearances (including 5 as a sub), scoring one goal.

During his time at Glenavon Paddy deservedly gained international recognition at a number of levels. He was a regular member of the NI Under-18 Schoolboys team and most recently graduated to the NI U-19 squad. Perhaps his most memorable performance in a green jersey came last November when he was part of the NI U-19 team that defeated Germany at MVP in a game that was part of the preparation tournament for the U-19 European Championships. Paddy confidently slotting home his penalty as the home side triumphed in a penalty shoot out after the game had finished all square at one goal each.

Gary Hamilton told us he was “sorry to see Paddy leaving but this is a wonderful opportunity for him to spend three or four years gaining a degree at a top US University so of course it’s something he couldn’t turn down, and rightly so.

“The thing about both Paddy and Bobby is that they are determined and single-minded in terms of where they want to go with, not just their football, but their life in general. He’ll come out of there with a good degree and he’ll be playing football while he’s there. It’s a loss for us as, again, he’s somebody we’ve brought through the Academy and the Reserves into the first team but as I’ve always said, I always want the best for the players as individuals. When he comes back hopefully he’ll be looking to get back into football over here and I hope he would contemplate coming back to us. We want to wish him all the best; he’s a gem and a great kid to work with, his professionalism is second to none, like his brother, and they are a family that I am very, very fond of.”

We would want to thank Paddy for his services to the club and wish him all the best in this new chapter in his footballing career.