WARRINGTON Town have swooped to sign their first ex-Premier league footballer, Irish international Gareth Farrelly who starred for Aston Villa, Everton and Bolton.
Midfielder Farrelly, who has been capped by the Republic of Ireland six times, will bring a huge amount of footballing experience to Warrington and still aged 34, has plenty left to offer on the pitch, says Town manager Joey Dunn.
“Gareth will be our midfield general and it is a statement of our intent at moving Warrington Town forward as a club,” said Dunn, who was delighted to welcome Farrelly to Cantilever Park.
He has spent the past month training with the club and is set to make his home debut on Saturday March 6 against Radcliffe Borough.
Farrelly spent five years at Aston Villa who signed him as a 16-year-old in 1992, and he made his Villa debut in September 1995.
He moved to Everton in July 1997 for approximately £700,000, scoring the goal that preserved their Premier League status on the final day of the 1997–98 season.
After two seasons with the blues he moved to Bolton, initially on loan. He won promotion back to the Premier League with Bolton in 2001, scoring the opening goal for them in the Play Off Final. He was subsequently loaned out to Rotherham, Burnley, Bradford City, and latterly Wigan. He made his full international début for Ireland as a 21-year-old, and has six caps.
More recently he has played in the Irish Premier League with Cork City.
Dunn added: “His wealth of experience will be a great asset to the club. His experience on the pitch will improve our quality and help us move the club in the right direction.”
Meanwhile Dunn has also signed Warrington based former England Schoolboy Tom Rutter, aged 21, a right winger from Radcliffe Borough and has set his sights on strengthening the squad still further, as Warrington push for a play-off place.
Warrington travel to Woodley Sports, tomorrow, Saturday, kick off 3pm and are away at Clitheroe on Tuesday, kick off 7.45pm. Maximum points from both games will see them back in the play-off hunt.
Picture shows manager Joey Dunn welcoming Gareth Farrelly to Warrington Town.
Premier signing for Town!
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Gary Skentelbery
Experienced journalist for more than 40 years. Managing Director of magazine publishing group with three in-house titles and on-line daily newspaper for Warrington. Experienced writer, photographer, PR consultant and media expert having written for local, regional and national newspapers. Specialties: PR, media, social networking, photographer, networking, advertising, sales, media crisis management. Chair of Warrington Healthwatch Director Warrington Chamber of Commerce Patron Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace. Trustee Warrington Disability Partnership. Former Chairman of Warrington Town FC.
8 Comments
Cant wait to see Farrelly make his debut next weekend!! should boost the attendances too
Lets hope he proves to be worth all the hype! Players with big reputations often come unstuck late on in their careers! Fingers crossed!
Lets hope the barmy army are in full voice when he makes his debut!
Welcome on board Gareth and well done Joey Dunn. This is an exciting signing and a real statement of intent. COME ON YOU YELLOWS !!!!!!!
Great news for the club and i hope the whole of Warrington starts to sit up and take notice of what we are trying to achieve. Hopefully a few more fans will arrive on the back of this. Well done to Joey too, its a real coup.
Said like a true blue nose 🙂
This is a brilliant signing for the club. Farrelly has enough strong technique as a footballer to influence the play on the field. Let’s hope he drives us on now so we make the playoffs.
Excellent business signing Gareth, well done to Joey, The Board and Staff to make this happen.
Our intention is the play offs.
Gary Owen : Ambassador