The Northern Ireland international arrived at Bloomfield Road in the summer of 2010 for an undisclosed fee from Manchester United.
A winner of the Northern Ireland Young Player of the Year award in 2003, the centre-half gained experience away from Old Trafford with loan spells at at Royal Antwerp, Plymouth Argyle and Watford and made his Blackpool debut in the 4-0 victory at Wigan Athletic.
Comfortable in possession and blessed with recovery pace, the defender was one of the bargain buys of the season and his first goal for the club came against the Red Devils. In May of his first season with Blackpool he picked up the Blackpool Supporters' Association's Young Player of the Year award.
Last season he made 27 league appearances for the club as he competed with Ian Evatt and Alex Baptiste for a place at the heart of the defence.