YORK City Knights have announced their first piece of retention for the 2021 with Chris Clarkson remaining at the club next year.

The forward joined York last year from Super League giants Castleford Tigers and, even in a brief spell of six appearances, showed the class that has seen him play almost 250 times in the top-flight.

The move by the Knights to keep the former Leeds, Widnes and Hull KR back rower was been aided by the club’s Squadbuilder.

York head coach James Ford said: “I’m delighted that Chris wanted to extend his deal with us and I’m excited as to what we can continue building.

“Chris is an outstanding professional who’s standards have a positive impact on everyone around him.

“He had some strong games in a side that didn’t quite find the fluency we were striving towards and I feel Chris set some standards for other players to aim at with regards to his unselfish efforts; getting behind the ball early, being ready to play on every play, kick chase and high quality defensive repeat efforts.

“I’m confident Chris will be a key player in our squad and central to our development.

“I’d like to thank the efforts of our supporters - specifically Squadbuilder and the 2020 Knights Patrons for their hard work and continuing commitment, which is enabling us to plan and build for what will hopefully be another successful season.”

Clarkson added: “I’ve never had this amount of time away from rugby since i was a young lad, so I’m very happy to know I’ll be playing again next year for York and very excited to get going again when the time comes.

I think taking a step back and getting our bodies and minds refreshed will do a lot of the lads good and we’ll see the benefit of that in 2021.”