Paddy McCourt's Glentoran arrival celebrated as 'real asset' for Irish League club

McCourt, a former Northern Ireland international across his celebrated playing career, previously worked with Devine at Derry City and has experience over a string of coaching and development roles.

“I’m very happy and excited about this appointment,” said Devine. “I’ve known and worked with Paddy for a long time and can guarantee Glentoran supporters that we’ve appointed a real asset for the club. Paddy is a great football man with a wealth of knowledge and experience in a full-time environment.

"He is also incredibly well connected in football right across the UK and Ireland, which means he’ll also be an asset to us in terms of recruiting widely. He’s a legend of Northern Irish football and also I would trust him with my life as a man and as a colleague.

“With Paddy in place I now feel that with himself, Tim McCann, Elliott Morris and myself we have a coaching team with all the attributes and talents to take this club where it needs to be.”

McCourt described the Glens as “a huge club in Irish football”.

"I’ve worked with Declan a lot over the years and also I worked with ‘Windy’ (Paul Millar, club director) for a while at Glenavon, so I know them well and they didn’t have to sell Glentoran too hard to me. I know the level of support the club has through playing against them in the Setanta Cup and it’s a club I’ve always respected and I’m really looking forward to playing my part in bringing success back to the club. I know the level of ambition the owner has for the club and I’m confident that together we can get Glentoran into a place where the supporters deserve to be.”