Former Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers and Millwall star finds new club after Huddersfield Town exit

Former Birmingham City forward Connor Mahoney has linked up with a former Blues midfielder at Barrow.

The 27-year-old was released by Birmingham City's League One rivals this summer and he has decided to sign for Barrow, who play in League Two. A huge reason behind that decision is that the Bluebirds are managed by Stephen Clemence, and the pair will have worked together at Gillingham before his harsh sacking.

Speaking about joining Barrow, he said “I’m delighted to be here, I came up to Barrow this morning, got everything sorted and I’m now just really excited for what the future holds.”

Mahoney added: “It’s been in the pipeline for a few weeks, obviously with the relationship I’ve got with the Gaffer, having played under him at Gillingham last season, we’ve stayed in contact since then and we’ve finally got a deal over the line so I’m excited to be here and look forward to working with him again.”

Both Clemence and Mahoney have represented Birmingham City during different time periods. Mahoney was at St Andrew's most recently out of the two after joining on loan from AFC Bournemouth in 2018 when Garry Monk was in charge. He appeared 32 times for Birmingham, creating four goals whilst getting on the scoresheet twice.

Clemence was a player at Birmingham during the mid-2000s and made a total of 135 appearances, playing mainly in the Premier League before helping them win the Championship title in 2007. 46-year-old Clemence retired in 2010 but Mahoney's career didn't begin until 2013, and he has played for the likes of Accrington Stanley, Blackburn Rovers and Barnsley.

After finishing up with Birmingham in 2019, he spent a couple of years playing under Gary Rowett at Millwall before moving on to Huddersfield, but his opportunities at the John Smith's Stadium were limited.