Bloomfield lauds loyal servant Shea after popular keeper pens new Luton deal

Luton goalkeeper James Shea has pledged his future to the club by signing a new contract which will take him into a 10th season at Kenilworth Road.

The 34-year-old, who started his career with Arsenal, spent time in non-league at Needham Market and Harrow Borough before joining AFC Wimbledon and then moved to Bedfordshire in the summer of 2017 having been released by the Dons, which started what will be a decade-long sting with the Hatters, completing a hat-trick of promotions in that time.

Since joining the club, Shea has seen Town rise from the fourth tier right up to the Premier League, as he was a huge part of the side who won the League One title, playing 46 games in all competitions, winning the division’s Golden Glove for 19 clean sheets. He then went on feature once when Town were in the top flight, coming off the bench for the final 20 minutes against Fulham, as the last two seasons had seen the experienced stopper as third choice behind Thomas Kaminski and Tim Krul.

With both having left the club this summer though, Shea is now the back-up to recent addition Josh Keeley, although showed he is still more then capable if called upon, impressing when making his 111th appearance during the 1-0 Carabao Cup loss against Coventry City earlier this month, with a fine late save from Jack Rudoni’s free kick.

Discussing just what it meant for the keeper to extend his stay, Town boss Matt Bloomfield said: “I am genuinely absolutely delighted about the contract for Sheasy because he epitomises what this football club stands for, who we want to be as people, the culture we want to keep working towards. He stepped in at Coventry and he was unbelievable, he was fantastic.

"Who he is as a person, how he conducts himself, I think it’s a great bit of business for the football club, a great bit of business for Sheasy to have a little bit more security behind him because of how understanding he’s been about his position within the squad. But how he still pushes and works and desires more, I think on all sides it’s really positive news.”

With Shea hot on the heels of the ex-Tottenham Hotspur stopper and Irish U21 international, Bloomfield is confident it will only help him maintain the excellent early form he has been showing, as he continued: “Josh needs to keep performing to the levels he is as Sheasy is pushing him. We believe in Josh, there’s a reason why we brought him to the club as we really believe in him. We know he’s going to go on to even better things, but we don’t want him to be too comfortable by not having any competition. A comfort zone is not good for anybody in life, so to have Sheasy there, ready to perform at any given moment, is crucial.”

Shea is also hugely popular with the Luton fans, as was shown when he did come on at Kenilworth Road for his Premier League debut against the Cottagers, receiving a superb ovation from those inside the ground. Although he has only been manager since January, Bloomfield can already feel the warmth towards him from those followers, adding: “I think our supporters know how much he gives as a person, know how well he’s performed for this club over a number of years, know who he is and what he stands for, so all of those things, put that in a pot, shows you how popular he is.

"There’s no-one more deserving of that than Sheasy. I cannot speak more highly of him as a person and as a professional, so he deserves everything. He’s rightly frustrated that he’s not played more and wants to play more, but he needs to keep that hunger and desire and keep pushing as you never know when that next opportunity arises. He's got to be ready for it if and when it does.”