BARROW AFC have announced the signing of a former England international defender on an initial five-month contract.

Chris Stokes joins the Bluebirds having played the vast majority of pre-season with Stephen Clemence’s side in the absence of captain, Niall Canavan.

The 33-year-old brings with a wealth of experience having played over 400 matches for Coventry City, Kilmarnock FC and Forest Green Rovers.

While at Kilmarnock, Stokes linked up with current Bluebird, Dean Campbell, where the duo helped the side achieve promotion back to the Scottish Premiership.

Stokes made his professional debut over 14 years ago while on loan at Crewe Alexandra from then Premier League side Bolton Wanderers. He came through the ranks at Bolton and represented England six times at under-17 level.

He made 228 league appearances at Forest Green and Coventry City before lining up for a host of EFL sides including Stevenage Town and Bury FC before moving back to Scotland in 2021.

Speaking to the club website about joining Barrow, Stokes said: “The club has done really over the past two, three seasons in this division.

"It’s a great club to be at, so when the opportunity came up I knew it was an exciting opportunity for myself.

“You never know when you’re coming on trial what it’s going to be like, how long you’re in for and things like that, so I was just taking it day-by-day at the start and the longer it went on, the more I wanted to sign.”