Coleraine achieve transfer coup with signing of Cork City double-winner Stephen Dooley
Credit: Michael P Ryan (ETPhotos)
Danske Bank Premiership leaders Coleraine have pulled off the transfer coup of the winter so far with the capture of double-winning Cork City winger Stephen Dooley.
The Ballymoney native returns for a third spell with his local club following a two-year spell at Turner's Cross that saw him win two FAI Cups and a league title.
He signs on an initial six-month deal, which will take him to the end of the Northern Irish season, with the option of a year's extension.
The 26-year-old joined the Rebel Army ahead of the 2016 season following a year-and-a-half with Derry City and made 53 league appearances for the Leesiders, scoring nine goals.
“I am ecstatic that Stephen has agreed a move to Coleraine,” manager Oran Kearney told the club's official website.
“We have kept close contact the last three or four years and came very close this time last year to signing him. He has trained with us regularly over that period so he knows a lot of the players.
“He is the perfect fit of what we are looking for at the minute, he is local and has always supported Coleraine.
“He wouldn’t play for any other Irish League club and we will look forward to him being available in January.
“He needs an appropriate break to ensure we protect him, before we will integrate him into the squad.”
City boss John Caulfield added: “We are disappointed that Dools is moving on but, at the same time, I was aware over the last few months that he had expressed an interest in moving closer to home.
“I understand Coleraine are his hometown club and he has friends involved in the club there, so I was always aware that it was an option he was likely to explore.
“We are disappointed that he is leaving, but he has given us two fantastic seasons and we wish him all the best.”
Dooley began his senior career with the Bannsiders, debuting in 2008, before moving to the United States on a scholarship with Loloya Maryland in 2010.
He made sporadic appearances for Coleraine over the following years and, while home at Christmas 2013, caught the eye of Derry manager Peter Hutton, who signed him the following summer.
