Derry Pele back in the League of Ireland as ex-Celtic ace McCourt joins Finn Harps

Finn Harps have announced the signing of former Derry City, Celtic and Northern Ireland international winger Paddy McCourt.

The 33-year-old joins after playing for Harps in a 1-0 friendly defeat to Cabinteely in Letterkenny on Sunday evening.

McCourt has been a free agent since cancelling his contract with Northern Irish Premier League side Glenavon in December.

“Paddy is a very experienced player who we hope will be big asset to us for what is going to be a very tough season,” Harps boss Ollie Horgan told the club's website.

“Here at home he has played with top Premier teams like Shamrock Rovers and Derry City before going to Celtic, which is a huge achievement and won Scottish League and Cup titles.

“He also had a lot of experience in England with sides like Barnsley, Brighton, Notts County and Luton Town before moving back to the Irish League with Glenavon for the first part of last season.”

Horgan expects the winger will take some time to adjust to the pace of the League of Ireland having missed the entire pre-season program, but he could feature in Friday's season opener at home to Cup-holders Cork City.

“Paddy has come in late so it will take him a little time to get to know the other lads,” he said.

“He has that natural ability to make things happen and we will need him to produce that quality because we are going to be up against very well organized defences in this division.

“We hope his presence will give all at the club a bit of lift for Friday night’s game against Cork City.”

McCourt added: “I have trained a couple of times with Harps now and played against Cabinteely in Saturday. It’s a good setup here with Ollie Horgan and Paul Hegarty who are doing a good job.

“I’m looking forward now to being part of the squad for the new season and I want to play my part in keeping Harps in the Premier Division.”

McCourt began his senior career in England with Rochdale, making 80 appearances for the club before returning to Ireland with Shamrock Rovers.

He left the Hoops due to their ongoing financial difficulties and joined his hometown club Derry City, with whom he won an FAI Cup and twice finished runner-up in the Premier Division.

A move to Celtic followed, and he helped the Parkhead club to two league titles and two Scottish Cups while gathering 18 international caps for Northern Ireland, scoring twice against the Faroe Islands.

He had further spells in England with Barnsley, Brighton & Hove Albion, Notts County (on loan) and Luton Town before returning to Ireland in 2015 for personal reasons.