Douglas United Dragons are celebrating the recruitment of former English League One and FA Cup player, Jamie Gosling, strengthening their bid for back-to-back FNQ Football Premier League titles.

After only retaining four of last year’s premiership side, the Dragons were looking thin on the ground going into pre-season, with many players from the history-making side returning to their native homelands.

But the recruitment of 31-year-old Englishman, Jamie Gosling, has the town and the league talking, with the star signing also attracting past players back to the club for another shot at the silverware.

Speaking on PortFM’s Saturday Morning Sports Show at the weekend, Gosling said he had played professional football his entire life, including stints at Bath City, Yeovil Town and Torquay United.

His career also includes an FA Cup appearance for Yeovil Town against Liverpool in 2004 – a match that included names such as former England striker and current Newcastle Jets star, Emile Heskey, Paul Terry (the older brother of Chelsea and former England defender, John Terry) and Harry Kewell - where Gosling says he “got nutmegged” by the Australian international.

“I brought him down afterwards, though,” Gosling joked.

After initially intending to play Victorian first division (the league below A-League) this year, a holiday to Port Douglas was all it took for Gosling to decide to sign with the Dragons.

“I was resigned to life in Melbourne, and then I came on a holiday to Port Douglas with my girlfriend and decided to stay,” he said, adding he was looking for full-time work and a sponsor to cement his stint with the Dragons.

Oliver Moffat, who starred in last year’s finals series, is also expected to return from Melbourne to the Dragons, according to club president Rodney Rasmussen.

“He rang me last week saying he wasn’t fitting into the Melbourne lifestyle and wanted to come back,” Rasmussen said, while club stalwart Matty Smith also made a comeback at the weekend after initially not committing to the 2013 season.

The Dragons kicked off the start of the FNQ Football season on Friday night with the second division side scoring a 2-nil victory over Stratford, Gosling contributing one goal in his debut wearing number 10.

On Saturday night at Mareeba, the premier league side went down 4-2 to the Mareeba Bulls with Gosling and Daniel Bateman scoring a goal each, while the reserves won 2-1 with Matt McMaster and Christian MacKintosh the scorers.