Wembley star Foley ‘back home’ at Shields
David Foley says he is delighted to be back home with South Shields after completing a sensational return to the club – and has vowed to make new memories for fans to enjoy.
The 31-year-old has resigned after 15 months at Conference North side Spennymoor.
Shields are hoping to complete the paperwork in time to enable him to go into the squad for tomorow’s FA Cup game at Mariners Park against Garforth Town.
“I’m delighted to be back,” said Foley. “It has been a long time coming and has taken a good couple of months to get to this point, but I’m absolutely over the moon that I’m here and now I’m so excited to get going.
“As soon as I walked back through the gates, the memories came flooding back. I really enjoyed my time here the first time and have lots of good memories, so hopefully we can kick on and make some new ones.
“The club is only going one way and there’s no doubt about that. They have kept the momentum going from the last time I was here, so hopefully we can keep that going and go one step further again.”
Foley began his career as a 16-year-old at Hartlepool United, where he still holds the record as their youngest-ever player. He signed for Shields in 2015 and helped them to the Northern League Division Two title before scoring 35 goals the following season as the Mariners won the FA Vase, Division One title, the League Cup and the Durham Challenge Cup.
In total, he bagged 49 goals in 87 games, culminating in a brace at Wembley in his last game for the club.
Joint managers Lee Picton and Graham Fenton had been keen to bring the player home, and have finally got their man, with Foley now looking forward to helping Shields work towards another promotion from the Evo-Stik Premier.
“I’ve missed the detail that Lee and Graham go into. It’s very much like a professional club and I’ve missed that. I’ve missed getting tested and stimulated before training, rather than just turning up and training and playing. I want a little bit more and that played a massive part in coming back.”