Squad update

Cliftonville Football Club offers thanks and best wishes to a number of players who will depart the Club upon the expiration of their contracts.

Kris Lowe and Declan Breen have agreed respective moves to Glenavon and Ballymena United when their deals come to an end next month, while midfielder Arran Pettifer and strikers Ruaidhri Donnelly, Destiny Ojo and Ryan Markey will also move on.

Lowe joined the Reds from Dungannon Swifts in January 2021 and made a total of 154 appearances over his four-and-a-half-years in north Belfast.

A hugely popular figure among the Red Army, Kris scored three times for Cliftonville, with his final strike coming in January’s Irish Cup defeat of Banbridge Rangers.

Goalkeeper Breen first joined the Club in 2013 and, bar a spell with Ridgeway Rovers in the 2017/18 season, was a regular presence throughout both the Academy and first-team set-up at Solitude, winning the Premiership Development League with our Olympic team in 2020.

Though he did not feature in a competitive senior game for Cliftonville, he did enjoy vital loan experience at Ballyclare Comrades, with whom he joined the ranks of goalscoring goalkeepers when he found the net in a Championship clash with Ards in October 2023.

Bringing the curtain down on his third stint with the Reds, Donnelly scored one goal in 18 appearances last season, bringing his overall tally to 68 strikes in 197 outings for the Club.

Another who emerged through our Academy, Ruaidhri made his debut in September 2010 and, following a January 2012 switch to Swansea City, spent time on loan at Tranmere Rovers and signed for Gillingham before coming back to Cliftonville in August 2017.

He moved to Glentoran in January 2021 and, after spending the second half of the 2023/24 season on loan at Newington, penned fresh terms with the Reds last summer.

Both of Ojo’s goals in Cliftonville colours, meanwhile, came in our successful BetMcLean Cup campaign.

After putting the seal on the first round victory over Limavady United at The Showgrounds, Destiny – who played in 17 matches overall – delivered one of the highlights of the year when he produced a last-gasp winner in the semi-final victory over Larne at Inver Park – sparking celebrations that will live long in the memory.

Pettifer scored once in 27 appearances for the Reds; making the breakthrough in the pulsating Irish Cup sixth round defeat of Glenavon at Solitude in February.

The Stockport-born central midfielder came through the ranks at Bolton Wanderers and had a brief spell with St Patrick’s Athletic before joining Cliftonville on Transfer Deadline Day last August, making his debut in the County Antrim Shield win against Ards a few days later.

Markey, who had previously been on the books of Bohemians and Klub Kildare, joined in the opening weeks of the 2024/25 campaign and played a total of 14 times after making his bow in the Premiership win over Dungannon on August 20.

Everyone at the Reds thanks all six players for their services and extends sincere best wishes for the future, with supporters advised that further squad updates will follow in the weeks ahead.