Experienced quintet return to Southern United in hopes to push for play-offs

Irish quartet Conor O’Keeffe, Danny Ledwith, Stephen Last and Garbhan Coughlan will all be returning to United for the 2019/20 ISPS Handa Premiership.

But that’s not all. Local lad Liam Little has also signed a new contract and hopes to keep his spot as the starting keeper for the team.

Head coach Paul O’Reilly is thrilled to have all these players back under his management. He said: “Securing this quintet of players for Southern United is crucial to our continued progress, they bring a wealth of experience to the squad with over 500 games at a National League level in their playing careers with just over 200 of them being specifically for United.

“Ultimately every club in the country wants to secure good players, I believe we’ve secured five top level players who bring great professionalism to the group and their burning desire to see United progress as a club is infectious on the overall squad,” O’Reilly added.

Little is the most experienced Southern United player as he heads into his fifth season at the club. The ‘daddy’ of the group has an extensive CV behind him having played in the NZ Olympic squad, Auckland City and international experience from playing in Australia and Scotland.

The Dunedin lad has high ambitions this season. He said: “I feel we’ve got the potential to break into the top four this season. It’s obviously a huge challenge and something the club has never achieved under the current National League franchise format, but we’ve been making steady progress over the previous couple of years and we’ve been one step away for the last two seasons.”

Last season’s captain O’Keeffe will be entering his fourth season with United. After gaining experience at Drogheda United in Ireland, O’Keeffe is hoping to have another positive season in O’Reilly’s defensive line.

Central midfielder Ledwith will be looking to secure his 50th appearance for the club in the opening game of the season. Known as a ‘playmaker’ for the team after gaining Europa league experience with Shamrock Rovers and Sligo Rovers, Ledwith has a lot to offer the team.

Ex-Cardiff City academy player Last is looking to keep another strong defensive line as he heads into his fourth season under O’Reilly. Last is known for being a ‘no nonsense’ defender who also isn’t shy of scoring a goal or two from set pieces!

Top goal scorer for the last two seasons for Southern United, Coughlan is happy to be staying in his “home away from home” here in Dunedin. Aiming to beat last season’s record of third top scorer in the league, behind Andre De Jong and Callum McCowatt of Eastern Suburbs, Coughlan is optimistic Southern United will be pushing for the play-offs.

The Limerick, Ireland lad spoke about how he was approached by other teams this season. He said: “I’d only consider moving within New Zealand (NZ) this season if it was to a club that can offer OFC Champions League and possibly Club World Cup football. Paul was really supportive in terms of having some discussions with other clubs but ultimately, I felt the best environment for me this season is to continue with United.

“The coaching and sporting facilities here are great. I’m still ambitious and striving to secure a pro contract, hopefully that’s an option if I can play a positive role in the team progressing into the top four,” said Coughlan.

O’Reilly can also confirm the resigning of Ben Deeley, Alex Cox, Rory Findlay and Cam Anderson who have all been breaking through into the senior's team from the Youths. Tim O’Farrell and Stewart Catto have also resigned for United after featuring regularly in the matchday squads.

Attacking duo Connor Neil and Ben Kiore have also made it into O’Reilly’s 2019/20 season squad after having stand-out seasons with Caversham AFC.

The Southern United coaching staff are continuing to monitor and identify numerous players locally, around New Zealand and overseas. Further additions will be announced in the coming weeks.