Former Man Utd starlet Ryan McConnell has signed for Finn Harps
Finn Harps have made their first major signing for life back in the Premier Division and it's a major one.
The club revealed that former Manchester Utd starlet Ryan McConnell has signed on the dotted line.
McConnell from Oldtown in Letterkenny, spent 3 years on the books of the Red Devils, where he captained the United U21 side.
His last season was dogged with a serious groin injury, limiting him to only had a few minutes of football resulting in his departure from Old Trafford.
The Irish under-age International and former Letterkenny Rovers schoolboy may have had a recent injury problem, but he is relishing the task with his local club.
Ryan says ”I am delighted to have signed for Harps for the 2016 campaign. Everyone is still talking about the play-off win and there will be huge anticipation in the County about us playing in the premier next year.
"Ollie has shown that he can get players performing to their full potential, so I am already looking forward to getting started in pre-season and hopefully playing my part in what should be an exciting time for everyone at Finn Harps”
Harps boss Horgan is delighted with the signing.
"I know Ryan well and he is a lad with good character who knows he is going to have to work very hard over the next 12 months. If he does that, then he has the qualities that are needed to succeed at senior level .
"We are looking forward to working with Ryan to offer him the best opportunity to progress his football.”
Meanwhile four of the Harps promotion winning squad have re-signed again with the Ballybofey club for the upcoming 2016 Premier Division season.
The quartet of Kevin McHugh, Ciaran Coll, Gareth Harkin and the club’s 2015 Young Player of the Year Tony McNamee were mainstays in the Harps side that won promotion to the Premier Division. All four started the exciting finale against Limerick and will be important players in Harps quest to consolidate their place in the upper tier of Irish football.
Harps manager Ollie Horgan tonight told Finn Harps Dot Com ”It was important to starting formulating the squad for next year so I am pleased that Gareth, Ciaran, Tony and Kevin have agreed to commit for the 2016 season.
It will be a big challenge for all of us to step up to premier level, but I think supporters will be happy if the four lads give the same commitment and display the same quality as they did during our promotion campaign.
Like all clubs we are presently talking to a number of players and we hope to announce further signings in the coming weeks.”