Connolly rejects Championship clubs to join Reds (From The Argus)

Connolly rejects Championship clubs to join Reds

9:00am Tuesday 10th July 2012 in Sport By Steve Hollis

Mark Connolly has revealed he ignored interest from Championship clubs to sign for Crawley.

The Republic or Ireland under-21 international penned a two-year deal at the Broadfield Stadium yesterday after being released by Bolton Wanderers at the end of last season.

Bolton had paid £1million for Connolly when they signed him as a 17-year-old in 2009 but the defender had no hesitation in dropping down into League One.

Connolly, 20, said: “A few Championship clubs spoke to my agent but I didn’t know if I would be guaranteed first team football.

“Then I found out Crawley were interested and it was music to my ears. They have won back to back promotions and are a club on the up so I wanted to be a part of it.

“I spoke to a few of my former Wolves team-mates who played under the gaffer (Sean O’Driscoll) when he was at Doncaster and they couldn’t speak highly enough of him.

“I’ve watched the way his teams play and my friends have confirmed that he just wants to play football and that suits me down to the ground.”

Read the full story plus an in-depth interview with Connolly in The Argus today