Christopher Martin Thomas Stokes (born 8 March 1991) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a defender for

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), w ...

Club career

Early career

Stokes played for

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

and

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

youth teams before joining

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

at the age of 14 for an undisclosed fee.

Bolton Wanderers

He captained the Wanderers at youth level during their successful run to the Youth Cup quarter finals in the 2008–09 season, scoring a penalty against

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Anfield Anfield is a football stadium in Anfield, Liverpool, Merseyside, England, which has a seating capacity of 53,394, making it the seventh largest football stadium in England. It has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since their formation in 1892. ...

and was a regular in Bolton's reserve team.

Crewe Alexandra (loan)

On 12 March 2010, he signed for

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

on a one-month loan deal, making his debut two days later in a 1–1 draw with

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

and played 90 minutes. On 11 May 2010, Stokes was released by Bolton Wanderers following the expiry of his contract. On 21 July 2010, Stokes opted to quit his trial period at Crewe to take up a similar opportunity at

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

, however was not offered a contract by Saddlers manager

Chris Hutchings Christopher Hutchings (born 5 July 1957) is an English former footballer and manager. He played for a number of clubs including Chelsea and played more than 100 games for Brighton & Hove Albion and Huddersfield Town. He has managed in the Premie ...

Forest Green Rovers

Stokes played for

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

club

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club are a professional football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team compete in , the third tier of the English football league system, and have played their home games at The New Lawn since ...

' reserve team as part of a trial, On 11 November 2010, he signed for Forest Green, initially on a non-contract basis. It took until 19 February 2011 for Stokes to make his Forest Green debut in a 1–1 home draw against

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

. After impressing in his first few months at Forest Green, Stokes was offered a new contract for the 2011–12 season. On 24 August 2011 it was announced that Stokes had been included in the England C Squad to face the

India national under-23 football team The India national under-23 football team represents India in international under-23 football and is controlled by the All India Football Federation (AIFF). A member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the team is eligible to compete in ...

side on 6 September. Despite scoring his first goal for the club in a pre season friendly with Hellenic Premier Division side

Slimbridge Slimbridge is a village and civil parish near Dursley in Gloucestershire, England. It is best known as the home of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust's WWT Slimbridge, Slimbridge Reserve which was started by Sir Peter Scott. Canal and Patch Bridg ...

in August 2011, Stokes scored his first league goal for Forest Green in a 3–0 win over

Bath City Bath City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Bath, Somerset, England. The club is affiliated to the Somerset FA and currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club have ...

on 29 August 2011. In January 2012, he signed an extension to his contract at Forest Green which would keep him at

The New Lawn The New Lawn, also known as The Bolt New Lawn for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire. It has been the home stadium of League One club Forest Green Rovers since 2006. During the 2007–08 season the stadium ...

until the end of the 2013–14 season. On 21 April 2012 it was announced at the final home game of the 2011–2012 season that Chris has been voted Supporters player of the season by the Forest Green Rovers fans. On 6 December 2012, Stokes signed a further extension to his contract at Forest Green, keeping him at the club until June 2015. At the end of the 2012–13 season Stokes earned a call up to the

England C The England national football C team (previously known as the England National Game XI and the England Semi-Pro national team) is the football team that represents England at non-league level. Formed in 1979 as the England Non-League team, it fe ...

squad for a forthcoming international with

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...

. He made his hundredth Conference league appearance for Forest Green on 26 August 2013 in an away win over

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

. In January 2015, it was reported that he had been allowed by Forest Green to train with

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

. It was revealed a week later though that he would not be moving to Yeovil. He then began training with fellow League One side

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

in February 2015.

Coventry City (loan)

On 21 February 2015, Stokes signed a 28-day loan deal at Coventry City. He made his debut on the same day in a 2–2 draw against

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

. In only his second game for Coventry, he scored a header against league leaders

MK Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

to help Coventry to secure their first home win since October 2014, and to help them climb out of the relegation zone. He impressed making it into the Football League team of the week. After impressing in his first seven games for Coventry, his loan was extended to the end of the 2014–15 season. He helped Coventry retain their League One status before the completion of his loan. On 4 May 2015, it was confirmed that he had been released by parent club Forest Green Rovers at the end of his contract.

Coventry City

On 30 June 2015, Stokes signed a one-year contract with Coventry City.

Bury

After three years at Coventry in which he helped the club to promotion and the

2016–17 EFL Trophy The 2016–17 EFL Trophy, known as the Checkatrade Trophy for sponsorship reasons, was the 33rd season in the history of the competition and the first since being rebranded from Football League Trophy. It was played as a knock-out tournament for E ...

, he joined Bury on a free transfer on 16 July 2018, signing a two-year contract with the Shakers. Stokes helped Bury secure promotion to league 1 finishing 2nd in the league 2 table during the 2018-2019 season, making it back to back league 1 promotion for Stokes.

Stevenage

Stokes left Bury on 2 July 2019 to join

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevena ...

. During his short spell at Stevenage Stokes helped keep 11 clean sheets in the 30 games he started.

Forest Green Rovers (2nd spell)

On 31 January 2020, Stokes re-joined

on a short-term deal. Stokes' slotted straight into the team starting every league game before the season came to a premature end due to the global pandemic Covid-19 in March 2020, this was following an impressive display away at Swindon where Forest Green toppled the league two leaders, coming away with a deserved 0-2 victory and Stokes earning Man of the Match. He was released by Forest Green at the end of the 2020-21 season.

Kilmarnock

In June 2021, Stokes signed a two-year contract with

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland Scotland (, ...

side

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

Morecambe

Following his release from Kilmarnock, Stokes returned to England, signing for

in June 2023.

International career

Stokes was capped by England at under-17 level.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Coventry City *

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

: 2016–17 *

EFL League Two play-offs The EFL League Two play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from fourth to seventh in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are part of the annual Engli ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Bury *

EFL League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

runner-up: 2018–19

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stokes, Chris 1991 births Living people People from Trowbridge English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers England men's semi-pro international footballers Men's association football defenders Bolton Wanderers F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Swindon Supermarine F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Bury F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Kilmarnock F.C. players Footballers from Wiltshire