Anthony Fennelly moves to Derry City following Cork City exit

Fennelly’s long association with his hometown club came to an end last month when new City manager Ger Nash decided to freshen up his staff.

FROM ONE CITY TO ANOTHER: Derry’s new goal keeping coach Anthony Fennelly. Pic: ©INPHO/Lorcan Doherty.

Former Cork City goalkeeper and coach Anthony Fennelly is back on the League of Ireland circuit after being headhunted by Derry City.

Fennelly’s long association with his hometown club came to an end last month when new City manager Ger Nash decided to freshen his staff up by replacing Fennelly with Mark McNulty as goalkeeping coach.

Derry City – currently third in the Premier Division – have swooped to snap up with the man who also runs his own Fitness and Recovery Suite in Cork.

The Leesider was recruited by manager Tiernan Lynch to fill the vacancy created by Michael Dougherty recently moving to Coleraine.

As a player, Fennelly was part of the St Patrick’s Athletic team who won the Premier League title in 1999 and he also has four First Division winners’ medals from various spells at Waterford, Cork, Dundalk and Athlone.

As well as the goalkeeping role, he also spent several seasons as assistant manager of Limerick. He will return to Markets Field this Friday for Derry’s FAI Cup tie against Treaty United.

“I’ve been involved at Cork City on and off for the past 13 years so it probably looks like a bit of a leap from one end of the country to the other,” Fennelly said on Monday.

“The fact is though that there are so many similarities between the two clubs and indeed the two cities.

“I have been at the Brandywell many times in my career and it’s very much the same feel, between the fans, the atmosphere and a real passion for their football club.”

He explained how the move came about.

“After the new management team came in at Cork City, I had several offers from LOI clubs,” he said.

“In my conversation with Tiernan however, and looking at Derry City as a club, I was really taken with the plans they have for the future.

“Tiernan, his brother Seamus and Andy Mitchell have a fantastic desire to drive the club forward and their experience is such a valuable part of that.

“From my early dealings with them I know that my opinions are taken seriously and that’s really important to any coach.

“They know how to work with people and when you get that level of respect, it makes you all the more determined to succeed.

“I’ve only been in a very short time but it’s clear to see that there’s a fantastic atmosphere in the group.

“We have real quality in the goalkeeping department- not just Brian Maher and Arlo Doherty but genuine potential in the Academy too.

“I’m really looking forward to helping them try to bring success to Derry City over the next few seasons.”