South Shields midfielder joins Spennymoor Town for an undisclosed fee

The transfer came at the player’s request as he seeks a new challenge alongside training on a part-time basis, with an eye on his long-term future beyond football.

Ross joined Shields in January 2020 and made 65 appearances for the club, scoring two goals.

The midfielder said: “The club expressed its desire to keep me, and this is purely my decision to move on.

“A great opportunity has arisen with Spennymoor which ticks a lot of boxes for me, including a part-time environment which allows me to combine my focus on football with an eye on my future.

“Being part of South Shields FC has been a pleasure and I wish nothing but success for the club moving forward.

“I’ll forever be grateful to South Shields for giving me the opportunity to come home from America three years ago and play for this club and town.

“The club has enabled me to do the thing I love close to my family and friends, and I’ve loved my time here.

“There were a couple of bumps along the road with COVID and my long-term injury, but I’m very grateful for the support I received from everyone at the club, from the board to my managers Graham Fenton, Lee Picton and Kevin Phillips.

“I’d like to thank all the fans for their constant support, even at the beginning when it took me a month or two to get up to speed. I’d like to think they would recognise that I gave my all whenever I pulled the shirt on.

“Thank you for the memories and I can’t wait to see the club continue its great progress.”

South Shields manager Kevin Phillips said: "We are disappointed to lose Rossi.

"We have tried over recent months to find a way to keep him at the club, but due to his desire to move to a part-time environment, nothing we did was able to find a solution.

"We have been compensated well by Spennymoor for the transfer and wish Rossi all the best for the future."