Cork City's preparations for Sunday's FAI Cup final have received a further boost with the news that manager John Caulfield has signed a new two-year deal with the champions.

Having already tied midfielders Gearóid Morrissey, Conor McCormack and Jimmy Keohane down to new deals, the manager has followed suit by signing on the dotted line himself.

With the league title already wrapped up, City could confirm this as the most successful in the club's history if hey manage to deliver a league and cup double for the first time.

And the club's board have wasted little time in ensuring that the architect of their recent success is signed up to lead the club forward when they return early next year.

“I am delighted,” Caulfield told the club's official website on the formal announcement of his new contract.

“We discussed it a while ago, but it was just a case of getting down to the formalities of signing the contract.

“We were in the run-in for the league and we decided to leave it until that was all out of the way.

“Since myself and John Cotter came in, our aim was to bring the club back to a position where we are in Europe and challenging for trophies.

“The crowds have been fantastic, and the support has been massive all the way through. The management team have worked hard and the backing we have received from the fans has been incredible.”

“We want to keep driving on and pushing the club forward. There are no guarantees of anything, but we want to be challenging for trophies and in Europe every year.

“It is a great time in the club’s history and we are constantly striving to make the club even better.”

Cork City chairman Pat Lyons added: “In addition to the success we have enjoyed at first team level, John has done a huge amount of work on the footballing structure of the club and worked closely with our underage set-up.

“We believe all of this will make this club better and stronger in the future, and we look forward to continuing to work with John over the next two years to bring that hard work to fruition.”

New York-born Caulfield is a former Cork City player, having scored more than 100 goals during a 15-year spell at Turner's Cross.

He finished his playing for Munster Senior League side Avondale United, taking over as manager in 2002, and managed UCC between 2010 and 2013 before moving back to City.