The 31 year-old midfielder re-joins the club after four years in his homeland with Wellington Phoenix, for whom he played 19 times last season.

McGlinchey won the A-League Championship with the Mariners back in 2013 but left under a bit of a cloud a year later, having his contract terminated following a dispute with the club in attempting to make his move to Phoenix.

However, having his return, McGlinchey says he was "so happy on and off the pitch" throughout his first spell, describing the move as a "no-brainer".

“I’m really excited to be back,” he said. “I’m delighted to get the opportunity to play for this club again.

“When Mike Mulvey and Monty (assistant coach Nick Montgomery) contacted me, it was a no brainer. They didn’t need to sell me the club, I know what the club is all about and I wanted to come back and play for the Mariners.

“When I was here I was so happy on and off the pitch – we went on to be really successful, I’ve got some very fond memories from my time here and I want to create some more."

McGlinchey played 120 A-League games over five seasons in his first spell and scored the winning goal in an AFC Champions League match away to South Korean club Suwon Buewings in 2013 to seal arguably the Mariners' most famous victory to date.

“I’m in my thirties now and I always said to my wife that if I had the opportunity to come back to this club, I would want to do it. I want to regather that form I had when I was here, I believe I’ve still got that in me,” McGlinchey said.

Head coach Mike Mulvey is delighted to have brought McGinchey back to his "adopted home", having already completed a deal for striker Matt Simon.

“Michael McGlinchey is a really tricky character on the pitch,” Mulvey said.

“What I like about Michael more than anything else, is that I see him as somebody who is returning to his adopted home.

“I can tell that he’s a winner, he wants to improve and he’s excited about what we want to achieve. I’ve spoken to many people about the successful days at the Mariners and two names that came up quite regularly were Michael McGlinchey and Matty Simon.

“We’ve struck, we’ve got him home and I’m really happy. It’s not just about bringing back former players. It’s about bringing in players who are fit, hungry for success and determined to do their very best for the Mariners."

McGlinchey began his playing career for Scottish giants Celtic having been brought through the ranks by the Scottish giants.

He played youth football for Scotland before making his New Zeland debut in 2009, and has since scored 11 goals in 52 caps for the All-Whites.