DERRY City have confirmed that Rory Patterson has agreed to return to the club.
The Northern Irish international left the club at the end of 2014 and spent time in Australia, before returning to FC United late this year.
The player has been in discussions with the Candystripes in recent days and an agreement has now been reached which sees the striker return to the club for 12 months.
Patterson joined City in 2012 and was an immediate hit, scoring four goals on his debut against Lisburn Distillery in the Setanta Cup.
The striker continued to score freely for City, capping off the season with the winning goals in the 2012 FAI Cup Final which saw City lift the trophy against St Patricks Athletic.
Patterson’s first season was interrupted with injuries but the City faithful were able to see the goal scoring abilities of the front man.
This was proved beyond doubt in his first full season in 2013 when Patterson amassed a haul of 25 goals across all competitions.
Despite the presence of the free scoring Strabane native, City were not able to secure any silverware and finished fourth in the Airtricity Premier Division.
The 2014 season continued to see the goals flow for Patterson, albeit his season was disrupted once again by injury.
Memorably, he scored a hat trick away to Aberystwyth as City hammered the Welsh side 9-0 to progress in the Europa League.
The 31 year old agreed to a termination of his remaining deal and moved to Australia where he lined out for Cockburn City in January 2015.
He returned to another one of his former clubs, FC United in late 2015.
However, Kenny Shiels has remained keen to learn of his availability and the player has been in talks with the club where he scored 61 times in 93 appearances during his last season.
Patterson signs on a one year deal and joins Jordan Allan as striking reinforcements for the 2016 campaign.
City struggled for goals last season, scoring only 32 times in 33 games and failing to score on 16 games during the season.
It is clear that the new boss has identified the need to add firepower up front if his side are not to struggle next season.
Derry’s first match is away to Finn Harps on Friday, March 4, 2016.
