to be a very competitive league with the likes of UCD and Sporting Fingal – two very good footballing teams – coming up from the First Division, so I know that it’s going to be difficult. “However, I’m well up for the challenge, I believe in my ability as a manager, and I also believe that this club can grow into something very special,” he continued. “Obviously, the short-term ambition is to build a new squad and to strongly compete in the Premier Division. The club had some excellent players in the squad last season, and I will be speaking to a number of them over the next week. I would like to get a squad together as quickly as possible so that we are ready to go when pre-season starts in January. There is also a medium-term ambition, which is to get this club back winning trophies. This is a massive club in Ireland with a long tradition of winning leagues and cups, and that has to be our aim – everyone here wants Dundalk back challenging the top teams in the League of Ireland, and I believe that we can achieve that here as this club has massive potential. At the same time, the supporters have to be realistic that we won’t achieve everything overnight, but that is our ultimate aim, and it is what we’ll be working towards.”

As a player, Foster started out at Liverpool where he spent ten years as a teenager in the Merseyside club’s Centre of Excellence. He went on to spend time at Chester City, Hereford and Kidderminster Harriers in both League Two and the Conference. He retired from playing football in early 2006 to take up the position of physio with the Harriers, however, his time in that job came to an end as he arrived at Galway in April 2008, as he accompanied Kenna to Terryland Park following the departure of Tony Cousins. There, the pair helped guide United to safety as they secured their Premier Division status by defeating UCD on the final day of the season.

Indeed, Foster could well have ended up at Dundalk this year as Kenna applied for a number of jobs before deciding to remain at Galway. However, the former Irish international made a surprise U-turn in January, leaving the Galway manager’s chair open for Foster, who quickly accepted the challenge. He again helped the Westerners to safety as they ended the season in eighth, avoiding a relegation playoff with Drogheda United thanks to the demise of Derry City. At the finish, Galway, despite being beaten three times in the sides' four meetings, were just two points behind Dundalk in the table, and the departure of Sean Connor from Oriel Park within 17 hours of the final game of the season paved the way for Foster to take his place in the hot-seat at Oriel Park.