Tony McNamee confirmed as new Finn Harps captain

Tony McNamee will captain Finn Harps for the 2024 season.

The Ramelton man has been handed the armband on the eve of the new campaign by manager Darren Murphy.

In a reversal of roles from the latter part of the 2023 campaign, Ryan Rainey will act as the vice captain. Rainey, last year’s skipper, is injured and awaiting the results of a scan to assess an ankle injury.

McNamee returned to Harps last summer after spending two years at Bonagee United in the Ulster Senior League.

The 30-year-old is in his third spell at Finn Park and last season scored once in 17 appearances.

“I have given a bit more responsibility to the team captain,” Murphy told Donegal Live.

“I see Tony very similar to myself in lots of ways. He’s delivering a message that I want delivered to the players.

“I want to hand a bit of ownership to the changing room. It shouldn’t all have to come from Darren Murphy, Eamon Curry and Kevin McHugh.

“The players have to set themselves standards and targets. The players have to hold themselves accountable within the group.”

At the end of 2023, McNamee signed a new contract that will keep him at Finn Park until the end of 2025.

Harps begin their 2024 First Division assault on Saturday, February 17, at Longford Town.

The Harps squad have a four-man committee, including McNamee, Rainey, David Cawley and Tim Hiemer, to liaise with the manager.

Murphy said: “The teams I was successful in had a good, hard core. I now have the likes of David Cawley, Tony McNamee, Ryan Rainey and Tim Hiemer - seasoned professionals - who are able to deliver a message.

“If it is constantly me then you don’t have a group that is leading itself.

“This will build an understanding that they are all in it together and it is coming from them.”