Everton have signed a strategic partnership with League of Ireland Premier Division club Sligo Rovers which will promote an exchange of knowledge across both coaching and business operations.

The two clubs have history together, Everton having signed captain Seamus Coleman from Rovers in 2009 for £60,000, while Toffees great Dixie Dean made the move in the opposite direction in 1939.

This new partnership follows on from the club’s successful collaboration with Chile’s Everton de Vina del Mar and the growth of the Everton International Academy Affiliate Programme in the US and Australia.

“This partnership will benefit both clubs and, in particular, can provide support to Sligo from the social and economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic,” said Coleman.