Will Fits the Bill for April's Player of the Month

Photos Courtesy of Sportsfile

SLIGO Rovers left-winger Will Fitzgerald has been named the SSE Airtricity/Soccer Writers Ireland Player of the Month for April.

The Rovers club captain topped the nationwide poll on 47 points from second-placed Kian Leavy of St Patrick’s Athletic on 33 votes with Dundalk striker, Gbemi Arubi in third spot with 24 points. Also on the short-list were Danny Grant of Shamrock Rovers, David Hurley of Galway United and Eddie Beach of Derry City.

Fitzgerald, the ex-Mervue United, Limerick and Derry City attacker, has been leading by example as the Bit O’Red took 10 points from a possible 15 in the month under review with the skipper scoring three goals and two assists in three wins.

The 26 year-old from Raheen in Co. Limerick has made Sligo his second home after joining the club in December, 2021 from Derry and this season he is closing in fast on 160 appearances for the Showgrounds outfit and 260 League of Ireland appearances in all.

This is his fifth season with the north-west club in the Yeats’ country and his tenth in the league.

“Sligo is my second home now and I have enjoyed every minute of it since coming up here to the north-west of the country. We have a great club and a great fan base,” said Fitzgerald on accepting the award.

In 15 appearances so far this season, he has netted four goals as Sligo sit second from bottom in the SSE Airtricity Premier Division with 15 points and Waterford are the current basement dwellers on six points.

“There’s no doubt in my mind but that things are picking up for us as a team and our performance levels have picked up big time in the last month. It was a very difficult start to the season for us with a lot of new players, but once the weather improves, the results start to pick up and the pitches start to get a bit better too.

“We can focus on our style of play that we have worked so hard on every day in training. We just needed that confidence boost with that win against Bohemians away and that’s what led us to go on our current run of results and to put points on the board,” said Fitzgerald who has now made 155 appearances for Sligo, netting ten goals and 31 assists.

“I think I have matured as a player and this is my tenth season in the League of Ireland. I have enjoyed every minute of my career so far. I have matured off the pitch as well and that extra responsibility of being appointed club captain is a huge honour for me and my family,” he added.

“John Russell has been a massive influence on my career and anyone who has been around the club in recent years and worked under him, they have huge respect for the man not just as manager but the person he is. We have full belief in him and we always have even after the tough start we had to the season.

“He sets the work ethic every single day and when you have your manager working that hard for the club, it trickles down to the senior and younger players and that makes my job as captain that much easier. I have the utmost respect for John (Russell) and he has a long and successful managerial career ahead of him,” added Will who wants to avoid the rigours of another relegation battle this season.

Sligo stayed up on the last day of last season condemning Cork City to the First Division.

“I love it here in Sligo. We have a great football club and a great fan base and I have really immersed myself in the culture and history of the town and the club. I have made friends for a lifetime here and I am so grateful for how much they have enriched my life,” he added.