Cork City FC are delighted to announce that Alan Bennett has agreed a contract with the club.

The 33 year old defender, who left City in 2007 to join Reading, leaves AFC Wimbledon where he was club captain and made 71 appearances, and he told CorkCityFC.ie that he felt the club was in a similar place to when he left: “It’s the Cork City I remember. A club that is successful and challenging for trophies, with a team full of Cork lads. Now I’m coming back into it the way it was back then: successful, driving towards the top end of the league, challenging for cups, playing in Europe…”

“I’m excited and I am looking forward to it. When the opportunity came around, it was a very easy decision. It was something I have always wanted to do and always said I would do, and now that it is happening, I am looking forward to it.”

“I’m looking forward to meeting some of the new players and also meeting up with players I have played with previously. We are all Cork lads and we all want to play for a Cork team that is doing well; it is something that excites me and gets me going again, and I can’t wait to get started.”

City boss John Caulfield described Bennett, capped twice by the Republic of Ireland at senior level, as a “phenomenal capture” for the club, saying: ““It is a fantastic signing for us. He is coming in to compete in an area where we didn’t have as much competition as I would have liked; obviously we have Michael McSweeney, Dan Murray and Darren Dennehy, but it was very tight and to bring a guy of Alan’s experience in is fantastic.”

“He’s been playing regular first team football in England for the last seven years, he’s a Cork lad and he has captained a few clubs over there which shows his leadership abilities as well. It is brilliant to bring in a player of his stature, ability and experience. He also has European experience and has won a league and a cup with the club.”

The club has also confirmed that Dave Mulcahy has been released from his contract by mutual consent, due to work commitments.

Commenting on the matter, John Caulfield said: “Dave has found that the demands of full time training have proven difficult to work around. When he signed, we discussed the possibility that there would be a conflict between training and his work commitments, but we agreed to try to work with it for a month in pre-season to see how it went. Unfortunately, it did not work out and we have agreed to terminate his contract, but Dave has been an absolute gentleman to deal with and we would all like to wish him well for the future.”