Mitch makes move

COLERAINE FC is thrilled to announce the arrival of Andrew Mitchell on an initial loan deal until the end of the season…

The striker will then join the Bannsiders from Glentoran on a three-year deal which will take affect at the start of the 2022/23 campaign.

The 28-year-old made his debut in the Irish League at boyhood club Glenavon in January 2012, scoring twice in an Mid-Ulster Cup tie against Dungannon Swifts.

In a bid to get more game time, Mitchell would go on loan to Ards for the 2013-14 season and scored six goals in 29 appearances.

A move to County Tyrone would come calling at the start of the following campaign as he signed for Dungannon Swifts, where he was the top goalscorer in the league during his final season at Stangmore Park in 2016-17.

Those impressive performances alerted the attention of a host of clubs but Mitchell made the move back to Glenavon under Gary Hamilton and he would spend two-and-a-half years at Mourneview Park, taking his total to 44 goals in 122 appearances across two spells.

The Waringstown native would seal a switch to Glentoran in January 2020 and made 35 appearances, scoring twice during his two years at The Oval.

In total, Mitchell has scored 108 goals in 300 appearances across his career in Irish League football to date.

Mitchell will be eligible to feature in this year’s Irish Cup but will be unable to play a part in the upcoming BetMcLean League Cup final.

Bannsiders boss Oran Kearney believes the acquisition of the front man will prove to be “good business” for the club.

“With the relation to the transfer market at the minute, you have to be smart and we believe that we have done good business by bringing Andrew to the club,” he said.

“Andrew will join us on loan until the end of the season and then complete a permanent deal to join us in the summer on a three-year-deal.

“We believe that he fits the bill in the type of player we want to bring here as he’s had a good career in the Irish League.

“It’s fair to say that the move to Glentoran probably didn’t work out like he wanted it to and he hit the pause button, but he’s scored a lot of goals at this level and he has the want and desire to make up for lost time.

“He couldn’t wait to the summer for the move to be completed as he’s itching to get started and we look forward to working with him.

“We haven’t had any issues creating chances this season but we probably haven’t scored enough goals since December and Andrew can help in that department.”

The Club can confirm that Mitchell will wear the number 22 shirt for the remainder of the season.