DUNDALK DEFENDER ARCHIE Davies has joined League Two side Carlisle United for an undisclosed fee.

Davies joined Dundalk in January 2023 from Aldershot Town.

The 25-year-old has made 63 appearances for the club, making the PFAI Premier Division Team of the Year after his first season with Dundalk.

“It was obviously a tough decision,” said Davies. “It’s something I couldn’t really turn down and I hope people understand that.

“I’ve always said that I wanted to go back and play in the English Football League at some stage and, luckily enough, I’ve built myself a good enough platform at Dundalk for teams to be interested. When the opportunity at Carlisle came up, I would have been silly to turn it down.

“Coming over here, I was a bit in the middle of nowhere in terms of my confidence and self-belief. To get that back, get a smile on my face, and enjoy playing football again was my number one aim, and I achieved it almost immediately.

“I can only say thanks very much to everyone at Dundalk. It has been the most enjoyable spell of my career and I’m going to miss the place.

“I’ll miss going for coffee with the boys every day and playing at Oriel Park on a Friday night under the lights. I’ve just had loads of really, really enjoyable moments and I’m really grateful. Thank you very much and I wish you all the best.”

Dundalk manager Jon Daly added: “Archie has been one of the best defenders in the league over the past two seasons and we are obviously very disappointed to see him go, especially when we have only 13 games to go, but he felt this opportunity to go back to England might not come up at the end of our season.

“When a player says he wants to go, you have to start planning for life without them. The club has got a fee from him and it’s our job now to go and find somebody who can become the next Archie Davies and I’m confident we can do that.”