Bates and McCourt join Blues in double swoop by Hamilton
The arrival of former Northern Ireland international McCourt is a huge boost for the club, but the return of Bates will raise eyebrows among the Glenavon faithful.
The 30-year-old striker scored 26 goals in over 50 games with Glenavon before departing for Australia to work for a family business.
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Hide AdHe admits the club is even better now than when he left. “When you look at the quality here it is no surprise they are a club on the up.
“Once I found out Glenavon were interested there was only going to be one place I would come back to. It is a special place and I can’t wait to get going. It’s a fresh start and I am here to prove myself all over again.”
Both Linfield and Cliftonville were keen to sign 32-year-old McCourt, but Glenavon won the race for his signature.
McCourt has a wealth of experiecne having played full-time with Rochdale, Barnsley, Brighton, Luton Town and Celtic. He has also 18 international caps.
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Hide Ad“Glenavon were challenging for the league last year and ended up winning the cup so coming here ticked a lot of the boxes for me,” said Paddy.
“I hope to bring my experience, I hope to entertain the fans and do my best for the team.”
Manager Hamilton added, “After the disappointment of Europe hopefully this will give us a lift and get us going again. It’s good news for the club to get two players of this calibre on board.”