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SAMMY Clingan joined the Sky Blues for an undisclosed fee in the summer of 2009, becoming the first new signing ahead of the 2009/10 Championship season.

The Northern Ireland international arrived at the Ricoh Arena from then-League One outfit Norwich City.

Clingan came to the Sky Blues as a central midfielder with plenty of Championship experience after spending one year at Norwich, two at Nottingham Forest where he was part of the side that won promotion from the English third tier in 2007/08, and five at Wolverhampton Wanderers who signed him from his native country as a 16-year-old.

Two loan spells at Chesterfield were sandwiched in between his move from Wolves to Forest where he made 93 appearances before his one-year stint at the Canaries which saw him net six goals in 40 appearances, establishing himself as Norwich's set-piece taker of choice.

He maintained his reputation as a dead ball specialist, scoring five goals for the Sky Blues in 2009/10, three of them coming from free kicks.

Clingan could not find the net in 31 appearanced during 2010/11 but his performances convinced manager Andy Thorn to hand him the captain's armband for 2011/12 in one of his first actions as City's new manager.