Ian Foster has bolstered his squad with the signing of Neale Fenn, who put pen to paper on a one-year contract at Oriel Park on Friday afternoon. Former Tottenham Hotspur striker and three-times League of Ireland Premier Division champion Fenn, 33, makes Dundalk his fourth League of Ireland club having previously played with Waterford United, Cork City and most recently Bohemians, where he spent the last three seasons.

Fenn ‘delighted’
The signing brings Foster’s squad to six, and further acquisitions are expected ahead of the side’s opening pre-season friendly against Athlone Town on Sunday week (7 February). Fenn took part in his first training session with his new teammates on Friday morning after agreeing a deal, and he has expressed his happiness at securing his future ahead of the league kick-off in five weeks’ time. “I can’t wait to get going now,” Fenn said when he exclusively spoke to dundalkfc.com after signing. “I’ve been training down in the AUL and I was delighted when Ian gave me the call to come up here and sign.

Here to play
“I think it was always going to be a slow year with managers holding out and waiting,” Neale added after being in limbo for the last near three months. “A lot of the budgets haven’t been approved and things like that, so I knew it was going to be a slow time. I was just trying to keep myself fit by going to the AUL sessions that the PFAI have put on. I was training away, hoping that something would come up. I spoke to Ian a few times; he told me stuff about the club and the way he likes to play football, and the direction that he sees the club going. It appealed to me. Obviously, I knew Ian from being manager at Galway; I saw the way his team played there, the way they played the ball on the ground, so I was delighted when I got the call.”

European aim
Fenn, who has won every major trophy in the league, has spent the last three years at Bohemians but felt that now was the right time to leave. “I think, to be honest, my time had come to an end there,” the 33-year-old commented on his release from the Dalymount Park outfit at the end of last term. “I didn’t really enjoy the last season there, so I saw it coming. I think it had just run its course, so I’m just delighted to get going here.” Having won three Premier Division titles in the last five years, Fenn knows that his move to Oriel Park sees him take on a different type of challenge, but he is hoping that the club can secure European football. “It will be (different), but hopefully we’ll be up there challenging for European places,” he said. “It will be difficult. Ian is building a squad from scratch. But Sean Connor did the same at Bohs and we finished third, so if we can do that it will be a good achievement.”

Lots to give
Now 33, Neale has been in professional football for close on 15 years, but he feels he still has a lot to give and is looking forward to a successful first season with Dundalk. “If anyone knows the way I play, I don’t really rely on pace or my legs,” he said. “They can’t really go! Hopefully, I can pass a bit of knowledge on to the young lads as well. I’ve won three league titles in five years, so hopefully I can pass that on. The first training session this morning was tough. It was proper pre-season training. The AUL have kind of been easing into it a little bit, but this was proper pre-season training – a bit of running and a few hill runs, but you need that, obviously. The pitch here is a good-quality artificial surface and I think it encourages the ball to be played around and you can play a high-tempo match on it. It will definitely suit my play anyway.

Season sights
“My aim for the season is to secure as high up the league as possible, really, and to score a few goals,” Fenn added, when looking ahead to the new campaign which kicks off on 5 March. “I think if you look at it, Bohs are obviously the favourites, followed by Shamrock Rovers. Then you’re looking at all the other teams who are building from scratch, really. Sporting Fingal are obviously full-time – they’ve just got promoted, but they’ll be up there challenging. But I think we’ll give teams like that a run for their money anyway. Two years ago, at Bohs, we won the league by 19 points. I’m not sure if Bohs can do that again, but I think that they will win the league, and Shamrock Rovers will probably finish runners-up again, so it will be competitive between all the other clubs below them.”

Winning form
Fenn, who was born in London but who has represented the Republic of Ireland at U21 and B level, is well known to and highly regarded by League of Ireland fans having won three Premier Division titles in the last five years, including back-to-back successes with Bohs, the first of those ending in a League & Cup double, in the last two years. He also added a League Cup winners’ medal to his honours list in 2008. Fenn began his career with Spurs, making his professional debut in April 1997, at the age of 20, when coming on as a substitute in a 2-1 defeat at Sheffield United. He made another eight appearances – including starting an FA Cup Third Round tie against Manchester United – for the English Premier League club, before spending time on loan with four different clubs – Leyton Orient, Norwich City, Swindon Town and Lincoln City.

Ireland switch
He eventually made a permanent move away from White Hart Lane in 2001 when signing for Peterborough United, before he arrived in the League of Ireland for the first time when joining Waterford in August 2003. He spent the rest of that season at the RSC and his fine form saw him snapped up by Cork ahead of the 2004 campaign. Fenn’s stock rose considerably at Turner’s Cross, the frontman playing a key role in the Leesiders’ 2005 Premier Division triumph. After his contract expired in November 2006, he was snapped up by Bohs, where he went on to further success, culminating in his third league winners’ medal three months ago. At international level, Fenn was part of Brian Kerr’s U20 squad which won bronze at the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship in Malaysia. He has gone on to become renowned for his exceptional ball control and his ability to bring others into the game, and is seen as an ideal attacking pivot in a passing team.

FULL DUNDALK SQUAD TO DATE:
GK: Peter Cherrie
GK: Matt Gregg
DF: Wayne Hatswell
MF: Alan Cawley
ST: Tiarnán Mulvenna
ST: Neale Fenn