Dungannon Swifts announce arrival of former Newry City star and Northern Ireland youth international John McGovern

Dungannon Swifts have confirmed the signing of John McGovern. PIC: Dungannon Swifts FC

The 21-year-old made 24 appearances for the Showgrounds outfit last season after recovering from an injury sustained in April 2023 and was one of the club’s brightest talents.

McGovern scored 11 goals in 33 Championship matches during the 2021/22 campaign as Newry regained promotion to the top-flight under Darren Mullen with the young striker rewarded by earning seven caps for Northern Ireland U21s, including starting against a French side that included future Real Madrid midfielder Eduardo Camavinga and Khéphren Thuram, who has recently been linked with a move to Manchester United.

In total, he netted 23 times during 110 appearances across competitions for Newry and now makes the move to County Tyrone as Rodney McAree’s second summer signing following the weekend arrival of defender Dylan King from Institute.

After his return to the club, King told the club’s media channel: "It feels great to be back. It's a great club and I've had great times here in the past so I'm looking forward to it.

"I had a great year with Institute and met some great people...it was probably one of my best years in football. There are a lot of people there that I will keep in touch with and I thank them for allowing me to come and play in the Premiership. I wish them all the best for the upcoming season.

"It's always good to have a strong end to the season because hopefully you can come right back in and pick up where you left off. At Institute we had a really good finish and were unlucky in the play-offs.

"Looking at Dungannon last season too, I was checking results and they finished really strongly too and were unlucky not to get into the European spots. It's only going to benefit us coming in and picking up where we left off last year and push on."

Dungannon have also confirmed that teenage star Kenny Ximenes will spend next season on-loan with Championship outfit Annagh United.