Bristol Rovers hero Chris Lines is returning to West Country football with the midfielder set to be confirmed as Bath City’s latest summer signing.
Bristol Live understands an announcement is expected to be made in the next 24 hours with the 36-year-old making the Romans the sixth permanent club of his career as he enters an 18th season as a professional.
Bristol-born Lines has spent the last three seasons with Stevenage and Northampton Town after leaving Rovers in the summer of 2019 after 357 appearances for the Gas over two spells having originally come through the club’s academy.
Lines, who made 31 appearances for Stevenage in League Two last season with 22 as a starter, will become Bath City’s fourth arrival this summer, as the Romans will be looking to recover from a disappointing 18th-placed finish in the National League South.
A hugely-popular figure in north Bristol, Lines' presence in the Bath squad could feasibly tempt some Gasheads back to Twerton Park when Rovers are playing away from home.
After emerging through the club's academy, Lines made his Rovers debut in 2006 and was part of the 2007 play-off-winning side under Paul Trollope before securing a transfer to Sheffield Wednesday where he played in the Championship for the Owls having played a key role in their promotion out of League One.
Injuries unfortunately blighted his second season at Hillsborough and he moved on to Port Vale before returning to Rovers in 2015 where, under Darrell Clarke, the Gas secured back-to-back promotions out of the National League and then League Two.
His final days at the Gas were slightly soured by tension with then-manager Graham Coughlan as he was exiled from the first team for much of the second half of the 2018/19 campaign, before leaving to play for Northampton and Stevenage.
With five promotions behind him at Rovers, Wednesday and Northampton, Bath City will hoping some of that stardust rubs off on the rest of the Romans squad throughout the 2022/23 season.
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