THE 38-year-old has been out of the game since he departed the Palmerston Park hotseat last month.
Annan boss Peter Murphy played with Gibson – who was spotted in the stands at Galabank last Saturday – at Celtic Nation and remained in contact ever since.
Murphy believes the experience Gibson can add to the team could be vital in their League Two promotion play-off push.
The Annan gaffer said: “Myself, Wullie and Colin McMenamin have known each other for years. At the start of the season we had discussions with him about transfers and players as he was manager of Queen of the South.
“Once the news broke that he was leaving Queens, I left him for a couple of weeks but after that we met up and had a good catch up.
“We’re delighted to get Wullie, he’s 38 and has a lot of experience. He has a drive to be the best player of the pitch and the standards he sets will only improve the others.
“There’s nothing more valuable for players to be talked through a game with an experienced player on the pitch.”
Gibson has already trained with his new teammates on Tuesday night. And he’ll be no stranger to a fair few of them.
Murphy added: “Wullie knows Tommy Goss, Scott Hooper, Aidan Smith, Benjamin Luissint and Tommy Muir. He also played with Greg Fleming at Peterhead.
“He trained with us on Tuesday night, the players didn’t know he was signing. He trained well and having a player who has made over 600 appearances is going to help us for the rest of the league campaign.”
Gibson should be available for selection for this weekend’s match against East Fife but Murphy has stated it could be “too soon” for his new signing to play the full game.
