Rovers strengthen squad with McGovern signing

Shamrock Rovers have strengthened their squad with the signing of striker John McGovern.

Currently leading the Airtricity League, McGovern’s signature from Dungannon Swifts is a big boost to Stephen Bradley’s side.

In the 2024-25 season just finished in the Irish League for Dungannon Swifts, the 22-year-old scored 14 league goals in 29 appearances, having joined Swifts from his local club, Newry City.

After many weeks of negotiations, the club agreed a transfer fee with Dungannon Swifts which they say will remain undisclosed.

This transfer is subject to subject to International and Domestic clearance which, when approved, would allow John be available for selection from July 1st, 2025.

Speaking with shamrockrovers.ie about the signing, head coach, Stephen Bradley said: “We were up quite a lot to watch John. We tried quite a bit over the last year to get him, but it wasn’t possible.

“John was at University and Dungannon weren’t ready to sell at that moment in time.

‘So, it was a case of continuing to monitor John and thankfully we’ve got him in now. We could have moved in on other players in the previous window, but we wanted to wait on John as he was someone we’d monitored for quite some time.

‘He fits the group, has a good age profile and we really like what he’s about. So we waited and now we got it done”

“There’s a lot more. I don’t think out and out poachers can play in this team, as silly as that sounds, I don’t think they can.

So John isn’t just an out and out goal scorer. If you watch him, he’s got a bit of everything, he’s someone we really like and he’s a really good person and we can’t wait to get working with him.”

John also scored the opening goal in the recent Irish Cup Final against Cliftonville, with Dungannon winning 4-3 on penalties following a 1-1 draw after extra time.

He has recently completed his degree in Business and IT and is both a former Down inter-county GAA footballer and a former Under 21 international for Northern Ireland.