Richard O'Donnell talks to www.themillers.co.uk...
New Rotherham United stopper Richard O’Donnell says he is delighted to have finally sealed a move to AESSEAL New York Stadium having previously being close to a permanent switch to the Millers.
The 28-year-old completed a move from Bristol City for an undisclosed fee, and after a hectic couple of weeks in the fixtures calendar with the Ashton Gate-club, he insists he is thrilled at an opportunity to make his mark in South Yorkshire.
“I'm delighted to be here. It's been going on for a few days really trying to get things over the line,” O’Donnell told www.themillers.co.uk.
“It's been difficult with the amount of games that Bristol City have had as well, so I'm delighted to finally get it done, and I'm looking forward to cracking on.
“It's to play football, that's exactly the reason and the main reason. I want to be a footballer that's remembered for playing football and not for sitting there and picking up a nice wage and not doing anything with my career.”
The Sheffield-born stopper returns to the Millers for a second spell, after a previous short stint on loan from Sheffield Wednesday in 2008, but is hoping his allegiance with the club lasts much longer this time around after signing a deal until the summer of 2019.
“I've had a couple of moves in the last few years and obviously being from round this neck of the woods it would be nice to settle and have a good few years,” he added.
“Hopefully we can stay in this league this season and then kick on again.
“I've played here a few times in the meantime, but we were at Millmoor with a different training ground and obviously a lot of different personnel, so it's totally changed and obviously you just have to look around the place - it's fantastic and it's all moving forward really well.”
After beginning his career with Wednesday, O’Donnell enjoyed a number of loan spells earlier in his career with the likes of Oldham, Grimsby and Macclesfield.
In 2012 he signed permanently with Chesterfield, before really making his mark in the game with a two-year stint at Walsall, where he won the club’s Player of the Year award.
He moved to Wigan Athletic, where he worked with current Rotherham goalkeeper coach Mike Pollitt, before his transfer to Championship club Bristol City.
He has signed a deal until 2019 with the Millers and will wear the number 18 jersey.