Pride and Joey

Cliftonville Football Club are delighted to announce that Joe Gormley has this evening signed a contract extension at Solitude.

The greatest goalscorer in the history of Ireland’s Oldest Football Club has, under the watchful eye on son Lorcan, put pen to paper on a deal that will keep him at the Reds until the summer of 2025.

After 424 appearances, the 33-year-old now sits on 255 goals for the Reds – an outrageous average of one just under every one-and-a-half games.

His opener from the penalty spot against Crusaders on October 5, 2018, saw him break a 57-year-old record set when Kevin McGarry netted the last of his 170 goals for the Club in a League encounter with Bangor on March 4, 1961.

While McGarry – who beat the previous landmark of 127 set by Sid Over – amassed his total after 286 appearances for the Reds, Gormley needed just 247 to set his own goalscoring milestone, one which he has since increased substantially.

Joe made his debut in a friendly with The New Saints on June 18, 2011 and, though his injury-time winner at Park Hall doesn’t count towards his tally, his incredible half-volley from the halfway line provided an early glimpse of what was to come in a Red shirt.

His first competitive outing came somewhat ironically against the same opponents in the Europa League just 12 days later but almost three further months would pass before he opened his scoring account when Ards were defeated on League Cup duty at Solitude on September 20, 2011 – Cliftonville’s 132nd birthday.

His maiden Premiership strike came when he put the seal on a 4-1 victory over Dungannon on October 8, while his habit of last-gasp goals continued in a memorable triumph over the Crues the following month.

The milestones have continued to clock up in the 11 years since, either side of a spell with Peterborough United.

Earlier this season, for example, he became just the eighth player in history to break the 400 appearance barrier for Cliftonville – an occasion he marked in typical style, with two goals in a BetMcLean Cup defeat of Harland & Wolff Welders.

After reaching the 250 goal barrier in November’s Danske Bank Premiership encounter with Glenavon, his hat-trick against Portadown the following month saw him shatter yet another Club Record with the 14th treble of his Reds career, assuming the mantle from Sid Over, the last of whose 13 hat-tricks came back in the 1930s.

With Gormley now contracted at Solitude for another two years, the Red Army can look forward to further magic moments and landmark occasions in the company of our legendary number 19.