Colchester United have confirmed the signing of former Blues midfielder Alan Judge on a two-year deal.
Judge had been expected to join the U’s since early May, although Gillingham were also linked and other League One sides were similarly keen.
"I'm delighted to be here. I'm glad it's done and I just want to get going," he told the Colchester Gazette.
"We'd been talking for quite a while and I had a few talks with my family and everything. This was the best option for me in every way, so it's great.
"Family is a major consideration - we've had a few problems off the pitch for the last few years, so that was a big thing for me.
"My kids are settled, this is a good club and I want to get this going and hopefully get into the play-offs again, this year.”
The 32-year-old left Town in April after reaching 29 league appearances with a 30th set to trigger another year on his contract, something manager Paul Cook was unwilling to do.
Nine-times-capped former Republic of Ireland international Judge joined Town from Brentford, whose former academy manager Jon De Souza is director of performance at the JobServe Community Stadium, in January 2019.
The Dubliner went on to make 75 starts and 16 sub appearances for the Blues, scoring eight times.
Judge joins former Blues skipper Luke Chambers, Cole Skuse and Freddie Sears in moving to the U's from Portman Road this summer, while the Colchester squad already featured several other ex-Town men - Dean Gerken, Tommy Smith and Tom Eastman.
The U's have also confirmed the signing of another one-time Blue, Frank Nouble, who rejoins the North Essex side having left Plymouth.