Young Sam opens up another chapter with The Posh
Sam Curtis is settling into his new role as an on-loan player with Peterborough Utd as he continues his quest to carve out a new career in English League football.
Peterborough is another stop-off point in an already eventful voyage for the talented Navan teenager.
Curtis signed for Sheffield United from St Patrick's Athletic at the start of the year and in May he made his Premier League debut for the Yorkshire club when he was sent on as a second-half substitute in a 0-1 loss to Everton at Goodison Park.
He has now moved over 90 miles south to Peterborough Utd - or The Posh as they are known as - for the season-long loan. The Posh are managed by Darren Ferguson the son of former Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson. The club is owned by Darragh McAnthony who is from Dublin.
This will be an chance for Curtis to get regular first team football. Because of that it constitutes a brilliant opportunity for the young Navan man.
Already Curtis has featured regularly for Peterborough. He started in defeats to Huddersfield Town (in the opening day of the League One season) and to Oxford in the Carabao Cup. In both those games he was substituted.
However he played the full game when Peterborough recorded a 4-1 win over Shrewsbury Town last week to get their league campaign up and running in style.
It can be daunting for any player to switch clubs. Everything is new and it can take time to settle in. Curtis appears to have made the transition quickly - but then setting new records is nothing new to him.
Earlier this year Curtis was awarded the Meath Chronicle Young Sports Personality of the Year award and even though he's only 18 he has already made his mark, a significant mark at that, on the game. He has shown a precociousness so far in his career that is remarkable.
At the awards ceremony at the Bective Tea Rooms Sam's father Darren gave an insight into why his son has progressed so far so young.
"Sam has great determination, great will power and that has greatly helped him," he said.
He was only 14 when he made his debut for Shamrock Rovers' reserve team in a League of Ireland First Division game, becoming the youngest player in the club's history to play in a senior match.
On the international front also Curtis has already had a significant impact. He captained Ireland at u-15 level when he was just 13. He scored two goals for his country in six appearances at u-17 level and has also captained the u-18 Irish team.
Further age barriers were broken or made light of by the young man. He was only 17 when he received a call up to the national u-21 squad and made his debut against Iceland. He was named as the Republic of Ireland u-18 Player of the Year for 2022 at the FAI International awards.
After his spell with Shamrock Rovers young Sam joined St Patrick's Athletic and made the right-full-back position his own. He went on to help the Saints win the FAI Cup by defeating Bohemians 3-1 before a record crowd of 43,881 at the Aviva Stadium last November. In December he was named the PFAI Young Player of the Year for 2023, the youngest ever player to win the award. He was included in the 2023 PFAI Team of the Year.
In January he signed for Sheffield Utd on a contract that currently runs until 2027 with the loan spell to Peterborough Utd an important part of his footballing education.