Former Newcastle United defender thanks Magpies after securing January move

Former Newcastle United Under-21s captain Cathal Heffernan has reflected positively on his time with the Magpies after he completed a permanent move to League Two strugglers Harrogate Town.

The Republic of Ireland youth international joined the Magpies from Serie A giants AC Milan during the summer of 2023 and was part of a Newcastle Under-19s side that represented the club in the UEFA Youth League for the first time in their history. Heffernan also went on to become a regular feature in Under-21s sides throughout his time on Tyneside and made handful of friendly appearances at senior level.

However, a competitive senior appearance remained out of reach for the 20-year-old defender and he secured a permanent move away from Newcastle earlier this month when he put pen-to-paper on an 18-month deal at Harrogate after they saw off competition for his signature. Heffernan is already relishing the ‘next step in his career’ but revealed he will always be grateful for the experience he gained during his time as a Magpie.

He told BBC Sport North Yorkshire: “There’s so much learning, I learnt so much there and I’m grateful for all of the people who are at Newcastle. They all helped me and I think this was the next step in my career, EFL football and stuff. It was a really good time, a really good couple of years there, I enjoyed it.”

Surreal

Heffernan’s unquestionable promise and solid performances for the Magpies Under-21s ensured he was never short of interest from clubs willing to offer him and opportunity to get a first taste of competition senior football - and The Gazette understands several clubs across the EFL and in Scotland were monitoring his progress during the last 18 months.

However, Harrogate made the first firm move for his services earlier this month as they completed the permanent signing of the former AC Milan defender last week. Heffernan made his senior debut just days later when he appeared for the entire 90 minutes of a 1-0 defeat at Shrewsbury Town and is now in line to make his home bow when his new side look to boost their bid to avoid relegation with a win against Gillingham on Saturday afternoon.

Heffernan admitted he loved playing at Harrogate earlier this season when he captained the Magpies Under-21s in a 3-1 defeat in a Vertu Trophy tie against Simon Weaver’s side - and described the fact he is now a permanent member of the Sulphurites squad as ‘surreal’.

He said: “I knew they were interested for a couple of weeks and I was in a bit of an unknown stage, that’s the way football is. But I am so thankful it happened and it happened really quickly. Luckily I was only up in Newcastle before so it’s only an hour and a half. It’s good, I love it down here. I wasn’t aware (of the interest) after the game here but I knew as soon as January came there was interest. I loved it when I was playing here when I was at Newcastle. I always loved the stadium, it’s a really nice stadium, the fans were really good and it’s surreal I’m now playing here.”

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