Jim Magilton has made a move to address the attacking loss at Cliftonville this summer by bringing former striker Ruaidhri Donnelly back to his boyhood club for a third spell. With Ben Wilson, Sam Ashford and Ronan Hale all having left North Belfast already this summer, Donnelly returns to the club he left for a second time in January 2021.
He made his Cliftonville debut back in 2010 and his early form for the Reds earned him a move to then-Premier League outfit Swansea City in January 2012. While he only managed two senior appearances for the Swans, he did have a fruitful loan spell at Tranmere before joining Gillingham on a free in July 2015, scoring 12 goals in 75 appearances for the Gills.
He followed this up by returning for a second spell with Cliftonville after two seasons in Kent before moving east to join the Glens where he started well before falling out of favour last season with Warren Feeney. This saw him take a step down into the Championship for a loan stint at Newington for the second half of the season before being released by the Oval club at the end of the season.
He was actually on the scoresheet as a trialist in the club’s 3-1 behind-closed-doors friendly defeat in Dublin against St. Patrick’s Athletic on Saturday and will bolster their frontline ahead of their Europa Conference League second round qualifier at the end of the month. He will be looking to add to his haul of 67 goals in 178 appearances for the current Irish Cup holders.