Swifts Manager, Kris Lindsay, has added forward Guillaume Keke, from Carrick Rangers FC and defender Francis Brennan, from Loughgall FC, to his playing squad.
New signing, Guillaume Keke, with Swifts Manager, Kris Lindsay.
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.
Swifts Manager, Kris Lindsay with new signing, Francis Brennan.
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!
It is with disappointment we have to announce that current Club Captain, Seanan Clucas, is departing Stangmore Park, to join Glentoran FC. We would like to make it clear to everyone that the Club did try everything within our power to keep Seanan. For his own personal reasons, a move to a Club in Belfast suited him best, at this moment in time, therefore we could not stand in his way. We would like to put on record our thanks to Seanan for all his services to Dungannon Swifts and as Club Captain during his time in the role.
Seanan Clucas
“I’d just like to take the opportunity to thank everybody involved with Dungannon Swifts for the time I’ve spent at my hometown club. From the manager Kris (Lindsay) who’s helped me so much and gave me the opportunity to Captain this wonderful Club, to the coaching staff, everybody who works behind the scenes to keep this club going (you know who you are), the supporters for your support through the good but also being there when times were tough. And finally to the group of players who I had the privilege to captain. Such a fantastic bunch of lads that made my time here what it was, special!! I thank you all. This is an opportunity I just couldn’t turn down for different reasons. I wish everyone all the best for the remainder of the season. Thanks a million once again, Seanan”
Pictured L-R: Swifts Chairman, Keith Boyd, Shane McGinty and Swifts Manager, Kris Lindsay.
As promised, we spoke to new signing, Shane McGinty, yesterday after he played his first minutes for Dungannon Swifts, coming on as an impressive second have sub against Institute FC.
“I’m absolutely delighted to sign for Dungannon. It’s a great opportunity for myself to come here and develop under Kris (Lindsay) and hopefully make a positive impact on the squad for the remainder of the season. Hopefully I can help us finish as strongly as possible in the table. As I only signed on Friday I haven’t had a lot time to settle in, so over the coming days I’ll hopefully get a chance to do so. I was delighted to make my debut today of course, and for us to get such a positive result made it all the better! I had a few people at Dungannon I had to “kiss and make up with” from battles being on opposing teams, in Dougie Wilson and Terry Fitzpatrick which was a good laugh!! On a serious note though, of course I was made feel extremely welcome from players, staff and in general everyone at club which is always nice.”
We wish you every success in a Swifts Shirt, Shane. Welcome to Stangmore Park.
Pictured standing L-R: Swifts Manager, Kris Lindsay & Head of Youth Development, Dixie Robinson. Pictured seated L-R: James Convie & Terry Devlin.
Teenagers Terry Devlin & James Convie have both been rewarded for their hard work and determination on the training pitch over the past season, by signing their first professional football contracts. Sixteen year old Devlin and seventeen year old Convie have agreed three and a half year deals with Dungannon Swifts. Both boys have come up through the ranks of Dungannon United Youth and made their way into the Swifts set up over the past couple of seasons.
Chatting to us during the week, Devlin had this to say; “It is a very proud moment for me to sign my first professional contract. I have been at Dungannon for about five years now and have been putting a lot of hard work into playing here. I would like to thank all the coaches I have played under over the years, who have improved my game and helped me get to this stage. My main aim now is to get more appearances and experience with the first team the rest of the season ahead.”
Convie was as equally happy to get his contract signed and is eager to get his debut for Dungannon Swifts; “I’m really delighted signing my first professional contract with a club like Dungannon Swifts. I’ve been at this club all of my life and to come up through the ranks to the first team is great. My goals for the season is to make my Irish league debut and hopefully get appearances throughout the season. Another goal from the start of the season was to hit 20+ goals which I’m not far off and will keep working hard in order to achieve that.“
Manager Kris Lindsay had plenty of praise for both of the lads; “I’m glad to get Terry and James signed on their first professional contracts. They are two really good kids, with big futures ahead of them. Terry has obviously made a number of appearances off the bench for the first team and did extremely well. James has got real quality, he’s played in a few Mid Ulster Cup games and shown that. This is the start of the journey for both of the lads, if they continue to work hard and continue to develop. I’ve no doubt they will do that, they are two good lads who listen and want to learn. I must pay full credit to our under age coaching structure. The coaches at our under age levels, Dixie as Head of Youth Development, have done a tremendous job, not only with Terry and James but with a number of young players who are coming through. Massive thanks and credit goes to them all, for a Club likes ours, it is vitally important that we continue to produce our own players. We have a number of home grown players who have come up through the ranks in the first team squad at the moment, and for us to survive and progress we need to continue to do that. So as I say full credit goes to all the coaching staff at underage levels in Dungannon.”
Manager, Kris Lindsay has strengthened his squad with his second signing of the window. Midfielder, Shane McGinty, has joined the Club form Ballymena United.
Lindsay had this to say about his new signing, “I’m absolutely delighted to get Shane over the line, he’s a quality player and he will give us options in midfield and going forward. He is still relatively young, at 25 years old, but he’s a lot of experience. He’ll boost our squad greatly, add to our options and he’ll give us a freshen up, which is much needed leading up to the run in. I’m really looking forward to seeing the quality he will bring with him to Stangmore and getting to work with him on the training pitch.”
More to follow tomorrow from Shane, who will go straight into the squad for our fixture against Institute FC, at Stangmore Park. Kick off 15:00. Shane will wear the number 46 jersey.
The Northern Ireland Football League have confirmed a new date for our Danske Bank Premiership match against Linfield Football Club. This fixture was due to be played on Saturday 9th November but was postponed.
The fixture will now be played on Tuesday 4th February 2020.
Kick off 19:45 at Windsor Park, Belfast.
Dungannon Swifts Michael Carvill and Jamie Mulgrew of Linfield . Mandatory Credit INPHO/Brian Little
