Finn Harps get early off-season boost as key trio re-sign

Finn Harps trio Tony McNamee, Max Hutchison and David Cawley have signed new contracts at Finn Harps.

McNamee and Hutchison have penned new two-year deals at Finn Park while Cawley has agreed a one-year contract.

Captain McNamee returned to Harps during the 2023 season having played for Bonagee United in the Ulster Senior League and this year made 36 appearances, scoring seven goals.

Hutchison, a son of former Premier League footballer Don, joined Harps in 2023 and has made 37 appearances since his arrival at the club.

Former Sligo Rovers skipper Cawley has also committed his immediate future to Harps. The Mayo native scored twice in 28 games after arriving to Ballybofey last winter.

“Tony has been brilliant since he has come back, he’s the club captain, he’s a great ambassador for this football club both on and off the pitch,” Harps manager Darren Murphy said of McNamee.

“He is held in such high esteem by everyone around the club, both on and off the pitch. He leads by example on it and has been magnificent this season.

“It has been magnificent how he has looked after the squad, the relationship he has with myself and the relationship he has with the rest of the staff and the players.”

READ NEXT: Youthful Ulster squad to take on girls’ Interprovincial series in Athlone

While Hutchison had some injury troubles in 2024, Murphy believes he the 23-year-old Englishman has yet to show his best.

Murphy said: “I have convinced him to stay for two years to try and build a career and to give himself a platform.

“Again, he is one that I think we have yet to see the best of, and I am looking forward to the next two years to see Max progress and grow. It’s a brilliant addition again, a very popular member of the squad and a guy that is well liked around the football club.”

Confirmation that Cawley is staying at the club has come as a major boost just a week after the end of the 2024 season.

Murphy said: “How he conducts himself around our place is magnificent.

“What he has offered on the pitch has been fantastic but David offers me so much more off the pitch. He is such a role model for our young players, that they can look up to and learn from.

“I am absolutely delighted that he has agreed to come back to Finn Harps for another season. It shows how much he has enjoyed his time with us after being a full-time footballer for such a long time; to move into a part-time hybrid model. It shows how much he thinks of us as a club, and I am absolutely delighted.”