City Load Up Winchester

Carl Winchester is the latest addition to the Candystripes, with the Belfast man joining City ahead of the new season on a 2-year deal.

The 31-year-old has spent well over a decade in the English football league pyramid after leaving Linfield at a young age, he signed for Oldham and made over 100 appearances for the Boundary Park side.

Carl also spent time with Cheltenham, Forest Green Rovers and Sunderland before arriving at Shrewsbury on loan for the 2022/23 season. He joined the Shrews on a full-time basis for the 2023 season and his 44 appearances saw him voted as Player of the Season at New Meadow.

The player has been regularly featuring this season and recently celebrated his 500th professional appearance, coming off the bench against Leyton Orient.

Winchester was capped at underage and senior level for Northern Ireland and joins senior internationals Liam Boyce, Gavin Whyte and Shane Ferguson at the Brandywell.

City boss Tiernan Lynch on the new signing:

“We’ve been very very fortunate with the players we’ve been able to bring in and the experience will be invaluable to us.”

“He’s had an unbelievable career. When I met with Carl, he was in a situation where he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. He was captain of Shrewsbury in League One and we got the chance to tell him all about our vision for Derry City Football Club, where we want to go and what we want to do. We’re obviously very ambitious and he bought right into the plan.”

Lynch on the club:

“This has the potential to be the biggest club on the island of Ireland and it has every right to attract international footballers. I think the quicker we can start understanding that, believing that and sticking our chest out and bringing more of the likes of these boys in, the better off we’ll be.”

Photos: Event Images Derry/Kevin Morrison