Rochdale Football Club is delighted to announce the signing of Adam Clayton.
The experienced midfielder has put pen-to-paper on a one-year deal with the club.
Clayton, who competed in last season’s League Two playoffs for Bradford City, commented:
“I’m delighted. I trained today with the lads and the standard of the session was really good.
“I grew up locally, so I know who Rochdale are as a club. It wasn’t a case of selling the club, more of selling the aims and ambitions for the group.
“Just by talking to the gaffer you can tell he’s going to give it everything to try and achieve what he wants to achieve. What he wants from a midfielder suits me and hopefully we can have a good season together.”
Head Coach Jimmy McNulty commented:
“There have been many conversations between myself and Adam over the summer and I’m delighted that he wants to come here and play for Rochdale Football Club.
“The impact of a signing like Adam on our dressing room could be huge. It raises standards, and culturally will be great for the whole group, including myself. I believe it makes the players sit up and take notice, and it sharpens their own minds about what we’re trying to achieve this season.
“His calibre and pedigree speak for themselves. His leadership and guidance, as well as his on-field coaching, are things that you can’t get from every signing, but we do with Adam.
“His Premier League experience speaks for itself and what he can rub off on our changing room is worth its weight in gold for me.”
Clayton has made over 500 career appearances, including a season in the Premier League with Middlesbrough in 2016/17.
He began his career at Manchester City where he progressed through the youth ranks from the age of seven.
After signing a professional contract in 2007, he had loan spells at Carlisle United and Leeds United, before joining the Elland Road club on a permanent basis in 2010.
The 34-year-old was a regular for Leeds in the 2011/12 season, before joining Huddersfield Town, where he spent two seasons, clocking up almost 100 appearances.
In the summer of 2014, Middlesbrough paid a seven-figure fee for the midfielder, where he would make over 240 appearances over six seasons.
After narrowly missing on promotion from the Championship in the 2015 playoff final, Boro finished second in the 2015/16 to reach the Premier League, with Clayton missing just three league games.
He played 34 times in the Premier League the following year before Boro returned to the Championship, where he would continue to be a regular in the following three campaigns.
Spells at Birmingham City, Doncaster Rovers and Bradford City have followed, before joining Dale this summer.
Welcome to the club, Adam!
