CORK CITY ARE set to undergo big changes with news that at least five of their senior players won’t be renewing their contracts at the club.

Conor McCormack, Colm Horgan, Garry Buckley, Karl Sheppard and Aaron Barry are all set to the depart, after the quintet were named on the Professional Footballers’ Association of Ireland transfer list.

The Leesiders did a league and cup double as recently as 2017, but their form tapered off badly this season, costing long-serving manager John Caulfield his job earlier in a campaign that ultimately saw them finish a disappointing eighth, having come second in 2018.

Neale Fenn, who was appointed senior manager in August and helped ensure the club avoided the drop amid a nervy end to the season, is keen to go in a new direction, with Cork City legend Joe Gamble announced as his assistant on Saturday.

Of the players let go, Buckley, Sheppard and McCormack all played an important part in their double-winning triumph.

Elsewhere, Stephen O’Donnell’s St Patrick’s Athletic also appear set for a significant rebuild, with Conor Clifford, Rhys McCabe, James Doona, Gary Shaw and Simon Madden all heading for the exit door.

Other notable names to feature on the PFAI list, which can be viewed in full here, include Bray’s Dylan McGlade, who made the 2019 First Division Team of the Year, experienced Shelbourne player Conan Byrne, former Dundalk star Darren Meenan and Shamrock Rovers youngster Sean Boyd.

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