YORK City Knights have continued their off-season recruitment drive with the signing of centre James Glover from Sheffield Eagles for the 2022 season.

Glover becomes York’s eighth new signing ahead of the new campaign and arrives with plenty of previous experience in the Betfred Championship.

The 27-year-old began his career at Dewsbury Rams and spent four seasons with the club before earning a move to Sheffield Eagles in 2019.

In Glover’s debut season in South Yorkshire, the Eagles won the inaugural AB Sundecks 1895 Cup against Widnes Vikings at Wembley Stadium.

Though he picked a serious knee injury during that year, Glover has since recovered to feature frequently for Sheffield last term.

The versatile back is also capable of featuring on the wing or in the halves and has a previously contributed with tries and goals at his former clubs.

York head coach Ford said: “James is a good athlete who has great attacking anticipation and a good understanding of how to create space for his winger.

“I was impressed by his competitive nature and this was something that drew me towards him.”

Glover added: “I’m buzzing. I can’t wait to get stuck in. It’s a new challenge for me and one I’m really looking forward to.

“I did meet a couple of other clubs and had offers from them but as soon as I met with Fordy and spoke to him, I pretty much knew that the only decision was to come to York.

“The calibre of players that he’s retaining and bringing in are some of the best, if not the best, that I’ll have ever played with.

“And, if you put that together with a great coach, great facilities and good fans in a really nice city, then it’s a recipe for success.”

Like a handful of York’s other new faces, Glover has past experience with the club, having had a pre-season trial with the Knights prior to his move to Dewsbury.

“I came out of the academy at Featherstone and I lost my way a bit,” he recalled.

“One of my old coaches put me in touch with Fordy and he asked me if I wanted to come down for a trial in pre-season.

“I was still quite young and I wasn’t driving so I was finding it hard to get over to York and then I got a promotion at work which made it harder so I had to call it a day there.”

Speaking about his recruitment plans, Ford stressed that he was keen to bring in defensively-adept players, an area of the game that Glover says he enjoys.

“I really pride myself on my defence and as I’ve matured as a person and player that that side of my game has come on leaps and bounds whereas a few years ago I was probably a bit erratic.

“In terms of attack, I see myself as a bit of a strike player. I’m really confident in my own ability and I do think that I can break teams down, whether that be in set plays or in off-the-cuff scenarios.

“There is a bag of mixed tricks in there and you probably will see some tries that you haven’t seen in York colours before.”

Glover becomes the second confirmed centre in York’s 2022 squad after fellow off-season recruit Jacob Ogden, who arrived from London Broncos.

While veteran Ryan Atkins has retired, the futures of centres Jason Bass, Liam Salter and Tyme Dow-Nikau have yet to be revealed by the club.