Cliftonville miss out on signing John Herron as midfielder joins Gibraltar-based club

The 29-year-old had been widely tipped to join Cliftonville after agreeing a deal with the club before Jim Magilton’s appointment as manager but he has opted to move to the side known as the Red Devils of Gibraltar.

The north Lanarkshire native started his career at Celtic before moving onto Blackpool and Raith Rovers, which included loan spells at Cowdenbeath and Dunfermline Athletic in-between.

Herron moved to the Irish League after signing for Glentoran in 2018 before securing a switch to Larne two years later.

However, he left the Inver Reds last August after his contract was terminated by “mutual agreement” after images were published online which showed the Scottish native wearing a t-shirt with a pro-IRA message.

He was hit with a 10-game ban by the Irish Football Association for ‘bringing the game into disrepute’ and Larne was fined £500 for the incident.

Due to the ban not yet being served under the IFA jurisdiction, Herron would have had to wait to make his Cliftonville debut had he signed for the Reds.

Since leaving Inver Park, a move to Belfast Celtic failed to materialise despite transfer dialogue taking place between both parties, before Herron would move Down Under and played in the NPL with Australian side Dandenong City.

Despite rumours of a move back to the Irish League, Herron will instead play his football in Gibraltar and will be managed by Australian Anthony Limbrick, who previously held the reins at Woking, Grimsby Town and The New Saints.