Portadown Football Club is delighted to announce the signing of 25 year old South African goalkeeper Jethren Barr.
Jethren, who was most recently with South African side Maritzburg United, is the youngest professional goalkeeper to play in the Premier Soccer League in South Africa at just 17 years old and has represented South Africa at U17, U20 and U23 level.
The 6 foot shot stopper was part of the South African U20 squad who won the Commonwealth of Independent States Cup in 2015 and has played in the CAF Champions League for iconic South African side Bidvest Wits.
Portadown manager Matthew Tipton had the following to say on his latest acquisition
I’m really pleased & excited to be able to announce Jethren Barr will be joining us. It’s no secret that we were looking for two goalkeepers this summer & now that Jethren’s deal is complete I’m more than satisfied with our work in that department this summer.
Harry has obviously come in & has been performing very well. What I wanted all along was two goalkeepers who could & will challenge each other for the number one shirt so when the opportunity to get Jethren in arose it was one we jumped on.
He comes to us with a very high pedigree having played in the South Africa Premier League from the age of 17 & represented South Africa at youth level all the way up to u23.
With Jethren holding a UK passport that was a massive bonus for us as everyone knows the market for goalkeepers within Northern Ireland is very slim currently.
While Jethren added
I’m very happy to be joining Portadown who Michael Dougherty spoke very highly of, it will be a big honour to play for them.
I watched a few of last years games and I can see there are many talented players in the league, the league looks really good and has so much potential to be even better. I would like to thank the Portadown family for giving me the chance to come over and showing everyone exactly what I’m capable of.
Special thanks to Lee Mudd, Michael Dougherty and the NIGK institute for scouting me and getting Matthew to analyse last seasons performances.
I can’t wait to prove to Matthew and everyone that Portadown were right to bring me in as I strive to make the number one jersey my own.