Barrow have appointed 44-year-old Robbie Stockdale as number two to new manager Stephen Clemence.
A defender in his playing days Stockdale made over 250 appearances for a number of clubs, mainly Tranmere (80) and Middlesbrough (75). He was capped once for England Under-21’s and five times for the Scotland senior side.
At the tail end of his playing career, Stockdale became a Youth team manager at Grimsby Town and took temporary charge of the Mainers in 2011.
Following a four-year spell at Grimsby, Stockdale moved to then Premier League side Sunderland as a Youth team coach. After an impressive spell in charge of the under-21s side, the former Boro defender was promoted to first-team coach at the Black Cats.
During his spell in the northeast, Redcar-born Stockdale took temporary charge of the first team on three separate occasions.
After six years at Sunderland, Stockdale had spells as an assistant manager at a range of clubs before he eventually got his first managerial job at Rochdale in 2021.
Since leaving Dale in the summer of 2022, Stockdale has had three more jobs as an assistant and first linked up with Clemence last season at Gillingham.
Speaking about his appointment at Barrow, he said: “It was quite a quick process really. Stephen gave me a ring late last week and having worked with him at Gillingham, I felt we did a good job there and I’m looking forward to doing a good job here.
“I’ve coached against Stephen while he was working with Steve Bruce and while I was working with David Moyes and Sam Allardyce. We also did our pro-licence together and worked together last season, so it’s been a long-time relationship and I think we complement each other really well.”
Speaking about the upcoming season, Stockdale added: “There’s been some good work here over the past few years and we’ll hope to build on that but at the same time put our own stamp on the club and do things our way.”
Barrow have also confirmed that Adam Temple “will remain an important part of the Barrow AFC coaching staff.”
