Defender James Clarke, one of the players retained by manager Darrell Clarke, last week, today completed the necessary paperwork to extend the contract which will see him remain at The Mem.
Clarke, who has made 75 first team appearances in all competitions for the club, will be looking to add to that tally next season, especially in view of the fact that he missed most of last season through injury, which limited him to ten appearances at the tail end of the campaign.
James was the manager’s first signing once the club returned to The Football League after a one year sojourn in The Conference.
He had appeared against Rovers in January 2015 in Rovers’ goalless draw at Woking and had earlier worked under Darrell at Salisbury
City.
James' Oxford United debut had come in the 2-0 victory at Kidderminster in the Conference in November 2007 and he had been sent off after 71 minutes of a 3-0 defeat against Burton Albion in March 2008 and, appearing alongside Lewis Haldane and Chris Carruthers, six minutes before half time of an opening day defeat at Barrow five months later.
Clarke had played 25 (+7) times in the Conference for Oxford United before 151 games with their neighbours Oxford City which took in promotion from the Southern League to the National League North in 2011.
He made 75 (+1) appearances for Salisbury, this tally starting with a 2-1 victory over Hornchurch in August 2012, his side gaining promotion to the Conference in 2012/13, where he appeared in 36 (+1) matches during 2013/14, had preceded 28 (+2) games in the same division with Woking, helping the side to 12 clean sheets.
James made his Rovers debut on the opening day of the 2015/16 season when Rovers played Northampton Town.
Speaking about his contract extension, the defender said, "It's nice to get everything sorted early on in the summer.”
“The season just gone has probably been one of my worst personally, due to the fact that I was injured early on in the campaign, but, it ended on a positive note, as I managed to come back from injury at the end of the season and get some minutes under my belt."
Watch the full interview with the defender below.