GALWAY UNITED HAVE confirmed the signing of experienced defender Robbie Williams from double winners Cork City.
The 33-year-old joins the First Division side after just half a season on Leeside, where he won league and cup honours in 2017.
The Yorkshire native played over 200 games in England during spells at Huddersfield Town, Stockport County, Rochdale, Plymouth Argyle and Barnsley, where he made the initial first-team breakthrough from their academy.
He also made over 100 appearances for Limerick across four and a half years, including their 2016 First Division winning campaign.
“It’s a new challenge,” Williams told Galway United’s official website.
“I’ve been at Limerick for a good few years and Cork City last year. Shane (Keegan) rang me a few weeks back and I’m delighted to come down to help and hopefully we can fire the team up to where it belongs.
“I’ll bring my experience in and we’ll guide the young lads to where they need to be. I’ve only been in a few days, but there’s a good bit of talent here. They just need guiding, a little bit of help and and I’ll do that as best I can.
“We kept the Limerick squad that played in the Premier Division together, so the circumstances are slightly different, but Galway have managed to keep a good few from last year and added a good few as well.
“It’s going to be a tough league. Three teams came down from the Premier, so we’re going to have to be on our game. A couple more players will probably have to come in, but we will be ready.”
Galway boss Shane Keegan is looking forward to seeing Williams line out at Eamonn Deacy Park in 2018.
“He’s a massively important signing for us,” said Keegan. “I’ve mentioned on a couple of occasions that we needed more at the back and until now we’ve been shaping up as a very young squad, so to get his experience in is very important.
“With Cork he would have picked up a league winners medal last season, and in Limerick’s dominant promotion season in 2016, I think he was the outstanding defender in the First Division.
“He was named on the PFAI Team Of The Year and he would certainly be at the forefront of your mind as one of the outstanding defenders in the division this season. To get that bit of shrewdness and experience that he brings with him will be a huge boost to us.”
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