DARRAGH O’CONNOR will hope to kick on in his footballing career after making the Summer switch to York City.

O’Connor joined York on Tuesday afternoon following the expiry of his contract with Scottish Championship side Greenock Morton, having made 68 appearances since 2022 with the Tons.

The 24-year-old centre-halve becomes the seventh signing of the Summer under manager Adam Hinshelwood, who will hope that City can show drastic improvements after a nerve-wracking 20th position finish in the 2023/24 Vanarama National League season.

O’Connor hopes he can play a part in that, whilst remaining excited to play in front of a packed out LNER Community Stadium with the 2024/25 National League campaign approaching after a ‘frustrating’ season with Morton.

“I’m delighted to be here and I can’t wait to see this place packed out,” O’Connor enthused to the club media team.

“It was a frustrating one, I didn’t get the minutes that I wanted to but it was still a successful one for the club.

“To finish fifth for the budget that we had was an incredible achievement for the club, to be a part of the team that made history by going 16 games unbeaten was a tremendous achievement for all of us involved.

“I’m just looking to kick on now in my career.

“It’s very exciting, I had said that I wanted to come down and test myself. Thankfully York came in and offered me a contract, which I was delighted to accept.

“I’m a defender first and foremost so I need to defend my box, I take pride in having clean sheets and I keep it simple at the back.

“I don’t take much risk on the ball, because I am first and foremost a defender.”

O’Connor and the City squad will meet for the first time on Thursday with pre-season training getting underway, but the new York defender won’t be a stranger to some, having previously shared a clash against striker Dipo Akinyemi in the Scottish Championship.

O’Connor continued: “We’ve had a few conversations [with Hinshelwood] on the style and how he wants to play, I’m looking forward to getting onto the training pitch on Thursday and going from there.

“I know Dipo [Akinyemi], I played against him when he was up in Scotland for Ayr, so I know him.

“Other than that, I know one or two of the boys just through passing, I know their names, I’m looking forward to meeting them and seeing the lads in person.

“He was a handful when I played against him! I’m just thankful now that I can be the one to put the ball up to him and he can be a handful for other players.”

The latest addition is also excited to be playing in front of an all-seater ground at the LNER Community Stadium, discussing how the facilities helped sway his head towards a move into England.

“It’s amazing, you see the facilities, the training ground, which is a very good training ground. It was a no-brainer for me to come here,” O’Connor admitted.

“It’s an all-seater stadium, a great pitch by looking at it and I just can’t wait to get out there.

“It looks amazing, hopefully it plays as amazing as it looks. I’m just looking forward to getting out there.

“In Scotland there is a lot of artificial 4G pitches, I love playing on a grass pitch and it was a key decision to come here and play on a grass pitch. The training ground as well are grass pitches, which made it a no-brainer.

“For the last two seasons I have trained on an artificial pitch every single day and have played against teams on them week in, week out. I’m used to it, I’m just looking forward to getting out on pitch.”