Defender commits to another two years
Mark McChrystal has signed a new two year contract with Bristol Rovers.
The Northern Irish defender joined Rovers on a short term contract in January after being released from Tranmere Rovers.
The 28-year-old has now committed his future to Rovers with a two year deal, with the option of a further year based on appearances.
Manager John Ward said: “We are delighted that Mark has committed himself to the club. We are aiming to try and improve things here, and he is an important part of the jigsaw.
“He has been part of the stable back four that have been playing together in recent months, and we are also talking to Steve Mildenhall.
“We are a young squad, and Mark gives us that seniority and experience, and I am sure Tom Parkes would be the first person to say he has benefitted from playing alongside Mark.”
The former Northern Ireland U21 captain began his career at Wolverhampton Wanderers, but following a loan spell at Bradford, he was released by Wolves and went on to sign for his home town club Derry City.
At the start of 2007 he moved to Partick Thistle, where he became a regular for the rest of the season.
At the start of the 2007/08 season he returned to Derry, where he spent two year before joining Lisburn Distillery on a short term contract.
He then went on to play a third spell for Derry, this time helping them back into the Premier Division as First Division Champions.
In January 2011 he joined Tranmere Rovers on a six month contract, before signing a further two year deal at the end of the season.
In November he joined Scunthorpe on a month long deal.
Chairman Nick Higgs said: “We are delighted that Mark has decided to sign a new deal with us.
“He is an experienced player, who made an instant impact when he joined the club at the turn of the year.
“He helped shore up our defence, and was one of the pivotal players in turning our season around.
“We hope that his experience will help us next year as we look to push for promotion.”