Stockport County is pleased to announce the addition of versatile player Callum Connolly, who will join on a two-year-deal following the expiration of his contract at Blackpool.
Connolly, 26, is capable of playing in a variety of positions in both midfield and defence, and leaves the Seasiders this Summer having played 104 times for the club over three years at Bloomfield Road.
He joins with over 150 appearances in the Championship under his belt whilst representing the likes of Wigan Athletic, Ipswich Town and Bolton Wanderers, and as a teenager was part of the England side who won the 2017 U20 World Cup in South Korea.
The Liverpudlian started out in Everton’s academy from the age of nine, going on to make his Premier League debut for the Toffees as a substitute for Seamus Coleman in a 1-1 draw with Southampton.
During his time at Goodison Park he enjoyed several loan spells to the Championship, memorably scoring twice on his Wigan Athletic debut against Burton Albion, just hours after joining them on loan.
Strong spells followed at Ipswich Town, where he was mostly used in midfield, and at Bolton Wanderers, either side of a second spell at Wigan, featuring regularly at all three clubs.
He spent two seasons on loan at Fleetwood Town from 2020-2022, during which time he worked alongside County’s Clint Hill, who was a First-Team Coach under Joey Barton at the time.
Callum left Everton permanently in 2021 following the expiration of his contract, eventually signing for Blackpool following their promotion to the Championship under Neil Critchley. He featured 32 times for them in all competitions last season, as they just missed out on the play-off places in League One.
Director of Football, Simon Wilson said:
“Callum brings fantastic experience and versatility to our group. Players like Callum are gold dust in that they can play many positions to a high level, and as such will help us over the course of a 50-odd game season as we encounter different selection issues or challenges from opponents.
“He has worked with our staff before and his character references from them and others are of the highest quality. We are delighted to welcome him to our group and look forward to our supporters seeing him in action.”
First-Team Manager, Dave Challinor said:
“To sign someone of Callum’s character, versatility and experience, having playing over half of his career in the Championship, is a brilliant coup for the club.
“Versatility on its own probably doesn’t do justice in his case, he can play anywhere across a back four or five, as a defensive midfielder or as an 8, so is a manager’s dream in terms of squad dynamics. He’s worked with members of the backroom staff previously, who were in total agreement on the impact he could have in our group, so personally I’m really looking forward to working with him.
“He had a disappointing back end of last season from his perspective and I know how much he’s looking forward to a fresh start and motivation to really kick on and get back to the levels he’s been at earlier in his career. He comes in at a great age with his peak years in front of him and I’m sure he’ll complement our team as we enter into the exciting challenge ahead of us.”
