Galway United have swooped to snap up the signature of Irish u21 international Ger Crossley.

The young midfielder - one of the stars of the team that won the u18 European Championships for Ireland in 1998 - has signed a two-year deal with the Terryland club.

Crossley started his professional career with Glasgow Celtic, but was surprisingly released last year. He joined Hamilton, but found himself without a club at the end of last season, when his contract, along with those of the rest of the first-team squad was cancelled. The Hamilton players had refused to play after the financially troubled club failed to pay them their wages.

Crossley had been planning a move to Denmark but changed his mind when Galway came in for him.

Delighted Galway manager Don O'Riordan said: I hope this signing proves to people that we are not just a club that wants to try to hang in there at the bottom and scrap for survival."