Date Published: Thursday, 31st August, 2023 - 2:55pm by Nik Mesney
Connah's Quay Nomads can today confirm the departure of club legend, George Horan.
George originally signed for The Nomads as an 18-year-old on loan from Wrexham late in 2000 having played just two games for Bangor City before making his Nomads debut against Aberystwyth Town on Boxing Day 2000.
In his first five seasons, George would make 147 league appearances and a further 35 in various cup competitions. George would go on to play for Rhyl where he would lift the Welsh Premier League before becoming a talismanic figure in the resurgence of the new look Chester FC, captaining the side to back-to-back promotions before returning to The Nomads in 2014.
Horan would go on to be The Nomads' captain during our most successful period in the club's history - leading the side firstly to Europa Playoff success, defeating Airbus in a huge game at Deeside Stadium before going on to be part of the defence which kept clean sheets across both legs against Norwegian side Stabæk, knocking them out in our first ever European fixture.
Horan would continue this success in the following seasons, skippering the side to multiple European campaigns and in 2018 led the club to our first ever Welsh Cup victory - success would evade him in 2019 as we finished runners up in both the Welsh Cup and Scottish Challenge Cup, but in 2020 Horan would captain the side to a domestic double, winning the Nathaniel MG Cup and for the first time ever, the JD Cymru Premier.
Whilst the 2020 Cymru Premier title success was somewhat tainted by the early finish to the campaign due to Covid-19, the 2021 follow up season was completed by Horan scoring on the final day of the season against Penybont as we lifted the JD Cymru Premier for a second consecutive time.
During his time at the club, Horan would make 448 competitive appearances with six substitute appearances, scoring 55 goals in the process, making George our club's record appearance holder and also placing him sixth on our all time goalscoring charts as well. George amassed these impressive statistics having played in a variety of competitions for the club including the JD Cymru Premier, Welsh Cup, Welsh League Cup in it's various guises, a trio of European competitions including the Champions' League, Europa League and Europa Conference League, scoring in both the Champions' League and Europa Conference. George also featured in the now defunct FAW Premier Cup and Scottish Challenge Cup, famously scoring at Hampden Park as The Nomads overturned Queen's Park en route to the Cup Final.
On his departure, George commented; "I've had a great time at the club in my two spells of roughly 14 years in total and it has been a massive part of my playing career.
In the second spell, to be part of the project to achieve what we set out to do which was to ensure the club was competing at the top end of the table and qualifying for Europe on a regular basis.
Of course some standout memories for me were lifting trophies and playing in Europe also.
A big thanks to all of the players I've played alongside and the staff I've played under through the years.
I wish the club all the best in the future."
Everyone at the club would like to thank George for his immense contributions to the club over his two spells at The Nomads and we wish him and his family all the best for the future.
