IRISH LEAGUE PREVIEW: Dundela's Stephen Gourley searching for stability

Gourley closed 18 years of unbroken service with the Wilgar Park club during 2020 but was persuaded to come back on board in May – sparking an intense close-season campaign of securing current players and signing fresh faces.

“It is the only club I would ever come back into football management for to be honest,” said Gourley, who made over 400 appearances for the club as a player plus previously held the roles of manager and Director of Football. “In 2020 I took a step back for personal reasons outside of football so never a case of bad blood with anyone.

“Dundela is a special club steeped in history.

"When you mention Dundela the one name that always comes up is Mervyn Bell, who devoted over four decades to the club.

"We have people on the backroom staff considered part of the furniture around this club and a group with strong connections to Dundela, so that can only help us move forward.

"It’s not a matter of just turning up, doing the job and going home...it’s about people who love the club.

"That attitude was drummed into me and I’m cut from that same cloth as so many other people who spent so long connected to Dundela.

"There is a passion and sense of what this club means to people.”

A May return left Gourley against the clock for his summer schedule.

"You normally start working on current players in the closing stages of one season before you attack summer aiming to secure signings,” said Gourley. “But we couldn’t do that because of the timing of everything, we had something like seven or eight players tied to Dundela when I arrived...so that was a priority before we could even look at transfers in.

"It has been manic...but the intensity of everything has actually helped bring everyone together.

"After the tough part we’ve come out with a group of players who have all bought into what this club means.

"Players are willing to dig in for each other and the importance of that camaraderie is all I’ve ever really known at Dundela, so it’s great to see it already within this squad.”