The Sportman’s Best Friend is back for another episode and this time we went to meet former Bury defender, Chris Stokes and his pooch, Benji. We filmed this during a tough time for the left-back, as he hadn’t been paid in three months which had put an incredible amount of pressure on himself and his young family.
Stokes kindly opened up about the goings on at the club who face being kicked out of League One by the Football League due to their financial difficulties. They still haven’t started their season and even in the best-case scenario they will surely be relegated, even if they manage to fulfil their fixtures.
The 28-year-old, having not been paid, was forced to hand in his notice at the club giving Bury a two-week period to honour his contract before he was allowed to leave on a free transfer. The club, in such a state, lost all of the players that got them promoted from League Two and their manager Ryan Lowe who departed for Bury.
Stokes made the move to Stevenage after we filmed with him and will now have to relocate his family after just a year with The Shakers. His new club have certainly picked up somebody who knows League Two well, having been promoted in the past two seasons with Coventry and then Bury.
His dog Benji will also have to get used to his new surroundings but having met him, I’m sure he will take it all in his stride! You can watch the full episode down below and also catch up on previous episodes on our YouTube channel.
