Ian Foster has completed somewhat of a coup with the acquisition of former Republic of Ireland U21 cap and Cheltenham Town star John “JJ’ Melligan, who has become Dundalk’s 13th close-season signing after putting pen to paper on a one-year full-time deal at Oriel Park on Saturday afternoon. The Dublin-born right-sided midfielder was released by Leyton Orient earlier this month and will now sample the League of Ireland for the first time having spent the last 12 years in England.

Wolves Wanderer
The 28-year-old, who was born in Whitehall, played at underage level for local club Home Farm before making the move to Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1998. JJ spent a total of six years with then First Division side Wolves but due to a lack of first-team football the youngster spent a large chunk of that spell on loan at a number of other clubs. The first of those was Bournemouth, who he joined ahead of the 2001/02 season, but a year later he was on the move again as he arrived at Kidderminster Harriers, where he enjoyed a successful stint, scoring 12 goals in 31 appearances, a return which saw him return to Wolves for the 2003/04 season.

Cheltenham star
Melligan made two substitute appearances in the league for the Molineux club while later that season he also came off the bench for the Republic of Ireland U21s. However, a lack of first-team football saw him go on loan once more, this time to Doncaster Rovers. At the end of the season he eventually left Wolves permanently as he signed for Cheltenham Town for a fee of £25,000, and it was to be his best spell in England as he missed just three league games over the following three years. His performances there saw him snapped up by Orient in June 2007 and remained there until this month, making over 80 appearances in his 18 months at Brisbane Road.