Swifts Manager, Kris Lindsay, has added forward Guillaume Keke, from Carrick Rangers FC and defender Francis Brennan, from Loughgall FC, to his playing squad.
Frenchman, Keke, joins us at Stangmore Park bringing with him a wealth of experience in the Irish League, having been on the books of Cliftonville, Larne, Ards and most recently Carrick Rangers. His name is not unfamiliar to Swifts fans as unfortunately we have been on the receiving end of many of his goals in the past, hopefully now it will be the opposite way around!
Guillaume had this to say to us tonight;
“I am happy to have signed for Dungannon Swifts, I really like it here at the Club. Obviously I know Kris from playing with him and he convinced me to come to Dungannon as he talks about football. I played in all the games at Carrick but I felt that my chances may become limited as they recently signed Darren Murray and I just want to play. I really wanted to come to Dungannon and show everyone what I am about. It is a nice Club. When I played against Dungannon, I always liked the way they played football, it’s one, two touch football. That’s what I like, that’s obviously what I want. I think I scored my ‘prettiest’ goal against Dungannon, so here’s hoping I score lots for Dungannon instead. The fact Dungannon play in blue, just like France, is just a super added bonus!”
Our other ‘new’ signing, Fra Brennan, is of course no stranger to us at Stangmore Park, having previously been a fans favourite, we’re sure he’ll slot back into that role again, very quickly.
Having left us to join Portadown and returning to us via neighbours, Loughgall, Fra admits he maybe did make the wrong move;
“I’m back and it’s honestly great to be back! The last time I left, it was sort of very rushed and looking back, it was probably the wrong decision on my behalf. I’m just delighted to get back in, and it’s good to see there are still a lot of familiar faces around the Club and actually the town! I’m pulling into the garage tonight, and it’s still the same guy behind the counter in the petrol station!! Whenever I left I obviously left the Premier League and went down to Portadown for a challenge, and it was harder than I expected in the leagues. Any player in the country will have the ambition of playing as high up as possible. Whenever the opportunity arose to come back to Dungannon, I just felt like I couldn’t turn it down. Any player in the Country, coach or manager, who says they don’t want to be involved at the highest level, would be lying to you. Any one with ambition that’s where you want to be and need to be!
Playing at Dungannon when I was part of different teams, it felt weird because I have such a close connection to the Club. However, it is a game and regardless of who I am playing for, whenever you step over the line, I want to win. Even though I probably wanted to playing for Dungannon, as most recently as the Mid Ulster Cup Semi for Loughgall, it was still good to win and go on to the final.
Right now, I’m really looking forward to getting back playing with Dungannon!”
A happy manager, Kris Lindsay, had this to say;
“I’m delighted to get both Keke and Fra on board. They both bring a wealth of experience with them having both played in the league for a number of years. Obviously Fra has had an excellent start to the season with Loughgall in the championship. Now he is relishing the opportunity to step back up to the premier league. He brings a lot of quality with him, and will add a lot of quality to the squad. He is a also a great character in the changing room which is always a positive. I’m looking forward to getting working with Fra.
Keke I’ve known a long time. He’s something different in the forward area that we don’t have at this moment in time, but he’s also a quality player who has a big strong physical presence, but he can also play. He will give us an extra dimension going forward between now and the end of the season.”
Welcome to Stangmore Park, Guillaume and welcome back, Fra!