Pat Fenlon last night agreed the terms of a deal to succeed Stephen Kenny as manager of Derry City. The Dubliner, who was in Spain for the weekend with his family, will be officially unveiled next week, most likely on Tuesday.
Having won three titles in the last four years with Shelbourne, Fenlon was always City's preferred candidate for the job but he was not initially keen to relocate his family to the north-west. Over the last two days, however, he was talked around by Brandywell officials and he will sign a three year deal.
"I am delighted it has been sorted out," he said last night. "It took a bit of time to think about whether I wanted to move up there but it has been sorted out now and I, my wife and kids will all be based up there.
"It's a big club with a vibrant support. My record up North as a player with Linfield was good and I hope it will be the same as a manager. Derry have a good bunch of young players so there is no great amount of surgery required but I will try to strengthen and put my slant on things.
"They have had a very successful season but the challenge for me is to get them over the line and win a new title. That's certainly what I'll be aiming for. It will be odd to manage another club. I had 10 seasons at Shels as a player and a manager, that's a long time for anyone. I enjoyed it while I was there but it's over now and I'm looking forward to getting started with Derry."
City chief executive Jim Roddy expressed his delight at securing Fenlon's services. "This is as big a coup as getting Stephen Kenny was two years ago. It was not easy to get Pat, there was a lot of negotiation involved but it's all been worthwhile."
Fenlon has apparently been assured the club's budget will be increased and he's likely to target several of his former Shelbourne players including Owen Heary, Joseph Ndo and Colm Hawkins.
Derry have been boosted by the news that Uefa have allocated an extra €100,000 each to the clubs that participated in the Uefa Cup first round proper.
Meanwhile, Pat Dolan is believed to have rejected the chance to replace Fenlon as Shelbourne manager in order to continue with his media work.
