DUNGANNON Swifts manager Dean Shiels is the Aktivora Manager of the Month for January.
The former Rangers and Northern Ireland player guided the Swifts to league victories over Warrenpoint Town, Larne, Portadown and Carrick Rangers.
He’s only the second man from the Stangmore Park club to win the prestigious monthly prize.
He said: “To get the Manager of the Month award is brilliant for me but I have to give total credit to the staff and especially the playing staff, they’re the ones on the pitch, they’re the ones doing the business for us.
“Each week our team is averaging an age of 21, we have good staff in Tony Gorman, Terry Fitzpatrick and Dwayne Nelson, we’re very tight knit, the physio, the kit man it’s a big effort from everyone.
“It was a big month for us. What started it was the 2-0 win over Knockbreda in the Irish Cup. We used that momentum to go to Warrenpoint. We won at Warrenpoint and took it from there.
“It was a brilliant month for us, and the lads deserve a lot of credit for their effort because there were Saturday-Tuesday weeks in there which is tough going on the squad. It was a collective effort.”
Dungannon Swifts FC are pleased to announce the arrival of Cathair Friel.
Friel in action for Coleraine FC
The striker joins on loan from Coleraine until the end of the season.
After a brief spell at The Showgrounds in 2011, Friel would make his name at Limavady United where his 46 goals in a single season helped the Roesiders win the Championship Two title in 2015/16.
Those performances alerted the attention of Ballymena United as Friel joined the Sky Blues in 2016/17 and he would lift the League Cup, as well as scoring in an Irish Cup final defeat to Glentoran during his time on Warden Street. In total, Friel made 162 appearances and scored 70 times for the Braidmen.
Cathair Friel celebrating a goal for Ballymena United
Speaking about the loan move for Friel, Dunganon Swifts boss, Dean Shiels, had this to say;
“I’m very happy to get Cathair on board. He is a proven Premier League goal scorer and those are hard to come by.
He gives us another dimension to our attack and I’m sure he will thrive with the attacking talent we already have here at Dungannon Swifts”
Dean Shiels – Dungannon Swifts Manager
The 28-year-old finished last season with Carrick Rangers and scored four times in 23 appearances for the Amber Army.
To date, Friel has made 23 appearances for Oran Kearney’s side – scoring six times in the process.
Friel is eligible to feature for the Swifts in this year’s Irish Cup.
We would like to thank Oran Kearney and Coleraine FC for helping to get this deal done and over the line in such a short space of time.
Welcome to Stangmore, Cathair. We wish you well in a Dungannon Swifts jersey.
Dungannon Swifts FC are delighted to announce the signing of Ruairi McDonald from Annagh United.
Dungannon Swifts new signing – Ruairi McDonald
He joins on a two and a half year deal for an undisclosed fee.
McDonald re-joins Dungannon Swifts after spending six seasons at Stangmore before joining Annagh United in 2018. During his previous stint at Dungannon, he also had a short loan spell at Loughgall FC.
During his time at Annagh United, he was part of the Intermediate League Title winning squad, scoring 14 goals in 25 appearances.
Ruairi McDonald playing for Annagh United FC
Swifts Manager, Dean Shiels, had this to say about his recent acquisition;
“Ruairi is someone who fits the profile of the player we want to bring to the club. He’s a talented midfielder with hunger to join the club.
He has been outstanding this season in the Lough 41 Championship and I’m delighted to get him signed.”
DSFC Manager, Dean Shiels
A massive thank you to Ciaran McGurgan, manager of Annagh United, for making this deal possible in such a short space of time.
Welcome back to Dungannon Swifts, Ruairi. We wish you all the best in a Swifts jersey.
Oisin Smyth, 21, has secured a move into full time football with Oxford United FC for an undisclosed fee.
Speaking to us about the move Oisin had this to say;
“I just want to say a massive thank you to Dungannon Swifts for everything they’ve done for me. Dungannon have looked after me for almost 10 years now and I owe a lot to this club.
It’s always been a dream of mine to move to England to play professional football and when the opportunity arose for me I didn’t think twice of grasping it with both hands.
“I would like to thank both Dungannon Swifts and Oxford United for making this move happen in such short space of time.”
Oisin Smyth
Smyth worked his way up through the ranks at Dungannon United Youth, like so many of our first team players, and eventually broke into the first team in the 2018/19 season. His presence has been accounted for in virtually every game since.
“I try to be the first person in the car park for training but Oisin has beat me couple of times. He’s the first player to arrive and last to leave the training pitch.
“My first big decision was to appoint him Captain of the Club as I seen his potential straight away; he was the obvious choice.
“He’s been pleasure to work with and wish him all the best. I will take great satisfaction watching his career develop in the years to come.”
DSFC Manager, Dean Shiels
Oisin was handed the Club Captaincy at the end of the 2020/21 season and has showed great maturity in this role despite his young age.
“A massive thank you to Dean and the coaching staff for showing faith in me to Captain this great club, I have enjoyed every minute of it. It has been an absolute honour.”
Oisin Smyth
Oisin pictured with his Grandfather, Pat McGibbon Snr (left) and father Liam Smyth (right)
Smyth has hailed from a great footballing family. His father played Irish League Football and he is nephew of former Manchester United and Northern Ireland player, Pat McGibbon.
A model professional who worked hard in training, impressed Northern Ireland U21 boss John Schofield during the current season and has so far received 3 International caps.
Away from football, Oisin also starred on the Gaelic pitch with his school St. Ronan’s College, Lurgan. Smyth helped his team lift the prestigious MacRory Cup and Hogan Cup in 2018. The highest accolade of Ulster and Ireland Schoolboy Gaelic Football.
From all at Dungannon Swifts, we wish you the best of luck on the move. We have no doubt that you will make a big impression in the professional game.
Thank you for everything you have done for Dungannon Swifts FC.
New Signing, Marc Walsh with Manager, Dean Shiels.
We are pleased to announce that Manager, Dean Shiels, has made his third signing of the transfer window, winger, Marc Walsh.
Twenty year old Walsh, formerly of Derry City and Swansea City, is a tricky winger who always wants to get forward and create chances, and he can play either right or left wing.
I’m delighted to come here to Dungannon. I’ve had a wee spell out and I just can’t wait to get back playing matches. I would like to say thanks to Dean for bringing me into the team. I got released by Derry City and Dean contacted my agent to get me down to training and we sorted things from there. I was at Swansea City from I was sixteen until nineteen years old and after that I went to Derry for a year. I’ve played along with Luke McKendry (Swansea City) and Michael Glynn (Derry City) before so it was good to know a few of the lads already before I started training.
New signing,Marc Walsh
The signing of the former Ireland under-18 international, has made Shiels a happy manager.
I’m really delighted to get Marc, he’s been in training with us for a while now and he’s got fantastic potential and great qualities that we are looking for. He’s going to be an exciting player for us. I fully expect Marc to make a good impact here. He’s really quick and he’s direct, he’s definitely going to help the group!
Manager, Dean Shiels
We are excited to see Marc in action in a Dungannon Swifts Shirt. We wish him well for the future as a Dungannon Swifts player.
Pictured: Manager, Dean Shiels pictured with New Signing, Goalkeeper Declan Dunne
Dean Shiels has made first signing of the January transfer window with the addition of goalkeeper, Declan DUNNE.
Twenty one year old DUNNE joins us on a three and a half year deal from Cliftonville FC. Dunne a former Northern Ireland schoolboy International, is a current Northern Ireland U21 goalkeeper and comes to Stangmore Park highly rated.
A St Oliver Plunkett graduate, Dunne has been with Cliftonville FC since he was fifteen years old and only ever left to go on loan to Portadown during the 2018/19 season.
Dunne is looking forward to getting started at Stangmore Park as early as what could be Tuesday night against Warrenpoint Town.
“I was absolutely delighted when I heard Dungannon were first to get in contact about signing me. It was a no brainer for me. I know what the Club are doing at the moment, they have a lot of young players coming through so for me it was a big ‘yes’ to come, develop, progress and hopefully get Dungannon to where they should be in the table again. I’ve played with Oisin Smyth in the NI U21s, and James Knowles at Cliftonville. I’ve also played alongside Caolin Coyle and Cahal McGinty at the NI under age levels. I can’t wait to get in and get the nod from Dean, which will hopefully be on Tuesday night away to Warrenpoint. It’s a massive game against Warrenpoint who are behind us in the table. Hopefully I will be selected and we get the win.”
Declan Dunne
Manager Dean Shiels was visibly delighted to get Declan signed for Dungannon and had this to say on his new signing;
“Obviously I’m delighted to get it over the line, it’s been a problem position since I came in and hopefully now we can get some stability in that position where we can then get stability in our defensive line and that adds confidence and helps with us conceding less goals. Declan is a young keeper that’s been on our radar. He’s got all the attributes to have a great career and we hope that he can come in and play his best football for Dungannon. He’s got great potential and we see him really benefiting the team.”
Welcome to Stangmore Park, Declan and we wish you every success in a Swifts jersey.
We would like to thank Cliftonville FC, Paddy McLoughlin and David Begley for making this move possible for Declan.
Pictured: Manager, Dean Shiels, Goalkeeper, Declan Dunne and Chairman, Keith Boyd.
