Portadown Football Club is delighted to announce the signing of Jamie Rea, who will officially join the club following the expiration of his contract with Loughgall.
The 27 year old, who lives a stones throw away from Shamrock Park, came through the youth system at Portadown before crossing the Mid-Ulster divide to join Glenavon and subsequently moving on to Ards.
Jamie would make a permanent switch to Loughgall in 2017 following a loan spell, playing a key role in their 2022/23 Championship winning campaign. The talented left back would go on to make 59 Premiership appearances over the past two seasons, turning out a total of 247 times for the Villagers during his 8 year spell at Lakeview Park.
On his first acquisition of the summer, Ports manager Niall Currie commented
We’re delighted to welcome Jamie to the club.
He’s been a great player for Loughgall for many years and at 27 years of age we feel he has all the experience needed. His desire to play for his hometown club was there for us all to see and we’re pleased to have him on board.
On the move to his boyhood team, Jamie Rea added
I’m absolutely buzzing to be back at Portadown where I started my football at 6/7 years of age playing for the youth under Robert Davidson!
I live in Rectory and you can see my house from the stadium, it’s always been a child hood dream to play here. I used to come every week and if I couldn’t make it I used to sit in my neighbours bedroom and watch the games.
When Niall contacted me he explained to me all his and the clubs plans and desires to keep improving and keep challenging at the top of this league and hopefully this season can be the start of it. With an unreal season last year after only getting promoted the club can push on now and I’ll be doing all I can to help that happen.
Also with the club having an unbelievable following and me personally knowing a lot of the fans, I know how much it means to them and the commitment they have to the club, I’ll be making sure I’m doing the exact same and giving my all and see where it takes us!
