Bohemian FC is delighted to confirm that goalkeeper James Talbot has re-signed for the club for the 2025 season.
A long-time fans’ favourite, next year will be the 27-year-old’s seventh season at Dalymount Park.
Having returned home following five years with Sunderland, the Finglas man signed for Bohemians ahead of the 2019 season and quickly established himself as a worthy successor to Shane Supple as the Bohs No 1.
His form that season saw him pick up an SSE Airtricity/SWI Player of the Month Award and named the club Player of the Year.
In the time since, he played an integral part in the club qualifying for Europe twice and reaching two FAI Cup finals, and recognised at international level as he received call-ups to the Ireland senior team from both Mick McCarthy and Stephen Kenny.
Ahead of the 2024 season, Talbot took the decision to take a temporary step from football to concentrate on dealing with mental health challenges.
Talbot received support from the club, staff, team-mates and supporters during this period. He soon returned to first-team training, returned to the matchday squad at the end of March and played both of Bohs’ final two games of the season.
Talbot said: “I’m delighted to sign back. This club means everything to me. It’s a privilege to play for Bohs. The people within the club value you, not only as a player but also as a person.
“I can’t put into words how much the support I have had from the club, not just last year, but since day one, means to me. There are so many people within the club, both past and present, who I remain eternally grateful to.
“I also want to thank the fans who have been so good to us all and me personally despite it being a disappointing year for the group and the club as a whole. I’ve seen first hand the lengths our supporters go to support us in good and bad moments.
“For me, last year was a great learning experience on and off the pitch. But I’m not at this club for those experiences, I am here because I am driven to win things with Bohs.
“I spoke to the gaffer regularly and once I knew I was in his plans, it was all systems go to sign back. The environment that the management have set is of a really high standard and I want to be a part of that.
“I’m looking forward to pushing both myself and Kacper in what I feel is a special goalkeeping department with the arrival of Seán Fogarty as goalkeeping coach halfway through last season, and the quality of detail he has brought.
“I am also extremely grateful for all the years previously that I got to work with Chris Bennion, who was massive for me since my arrival and set the whole goalkeeping department to a level of high quality that demands hard work.
“Looking back on the past couple of seasons, we have had a couple of near misses but as players we need to demand more and to be more consistent. There is expectation in every game with a club of this stature and we want to live up to that.
“I am excited to get back and hopefully kick on. I believe the return of Keith Buckley and Rob Cornwall will be huge for us as a group in pre-season and I’m excited to see the lads again, who to a man have been unbelievable to me.”
Bohemians manager Alan Reynolds said: “I am absolutely delighted to have JT signed back. He’s loved by the fans here but not just by the fans, he’s loved by everyone in the group.
“He loves the club back, he really wanted to stay and we really wanted him to stay.
“Everyone knows what a good player James is. Over the course of his time in the league, James has been the best keeper in the country. He hasn’t lost that as we saw in the last two games of the season when we brought him back into the team.
“He is really excited about his future and we are too. We want to get the best out of JT next season. Together with Kacper Chorazka, we have incredible options who will keep pushing each other.
“James had a difficult time of it but worked extremely hard to get himself right. He wants to get back to his best, he is hungry to do that and we have really good people within the staff and group who are really looking forward to helping him get there.”
