CORK CITY HAVE confirmed the appointment of Neale Fenn as the club’s new first team coach, after the former striker resigned from his position as Longford Town manager last week.
The 42-year-old returns to Turner’s Cross on a multi-year agreement having played for the Rebels for two seasons between 2004 and 2006, during which he helped Cork lift the Premier Division title in 2005.
Fenn’s appointment sees him take over the reins at City from John Cotter, who was appointed interim head coach following the departure of John Caulfield earlier in the season.
“It’s fantastic to be back here,” Fenn said. “I took a walk around Turner’s Cross and the memories came flooding back of the fantastic nights in front of the Shed End — winning trophies and those great European nights.
“I can’t wait to get going now. I’ve met the backroom team, a lot of who I know from my playing and coaching career. We’re committed now to finishing the season as high as we can in the league. There’s a very strong group of players here. The spine of the team is Cork City through and through, you need that to be successful.”
Cork have endured a difficult season as their poor early-season form accounted for the departure of long-serving Caulfield, and the club’s fortunes have hardly improved since, with the 2017 champions currently sitting in seventh position.
City were also dumped out of the FAI Cup on Friday night, as they suffered a 1-0 defeat to First Division side Galway United in the second round.
Club chairman City Declan Carey added: “It’s great to have Neale back at the club. We all have fond memories of Neale’s playing days at the Cross and he’s done very well at Longford, where they played an attacking style of football.
“He shares our vision of where we want to go. Make no mistake about it, Neale has a huge job now to bring this club back to where it belongs over the next few years.
“We’ll back him and the whole first team 100% and we hope the Cork public get behind what we’re trying to achieve. We’re all in this together — supporters, players, staff, board — everyone.”
Fenn’s first game in charge will be against Sligo Rovers this Friday.
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