Dundalk have appointed former Northern Ireland international Jim Magilton as the club’s new sporting director.

The 51-year-old has been the elite performance director at the Irish Football Association (IFA) for the past seven years.

Magilton will work alongside Filippo Giovagnoli, who was appointed permanent manager of Dundalk on Tuesday two days after the club's FAI Cup success.

Magilton won 52 caps for Northern Ireland, scoring on his international debut against Poland in 1991.

The Belfast native also played more than 550 club games in England with the likes of Oxford United, Southampton and Ipswich Town.

After retiring as a player in 2006, he spent three years as manager of Ipswich Town and also had a spell at QPR.

It won't be his first time in the League of Ireland having worked with Michael O'Neill when he was in charge of the Shamrock Rovers title-winning side in 2011, which also reached the group stage of the Europa League.

Magilton also had a short spell in Australia as head coach of Australian A-League side Melbourne Victory.

Magilton was interviewed for the Northern Ireland manager's job earlier this year but missed out to Ian Baraclough.

He became the IFA’s elite performance director in 2013 where he was responsible for player development and the association’s coach education programme.

He will take up the newly created role at Oriel Park on December 14th.