Derby County have signed experienced goalkeeper Chris Weale on a one-year contract.

Weale, who is 34 and a free agent, will provide cover in the Rams’ goalkeeping department following the loan departures of Lee Grant and Kelle Roos in the last week.


Grant has linked up with Premier League Stoke City until January while Roos will spend the entire season with Sky Bet League 1 side Bristol Rovers.


Weale played under Derby boss Nigel Pearson at Leicester City and played a key role in the Foxes reaching the Championship’s Play-Off Semi Finals in 2009/10.


He will help provide cover for Scott Carson and Jonathan Mitchell, as well as being able to pass on his vast experience to Derby’s younger goalkeepers.


Weale began his career at Yeovil Town and played for the Glovers at non-league level before they were promoted to the Football League, picking up a number of England C caps and two successive ‘Team of the Year’ accolades in the process.


He joined Bristol City, linking up with his former manager Gary Johnson, in the summer of 2006. He made a handful of appearances for the Robins and had loan spells at Hereford United and Yeovil, where he scored in a 2-2 draw against Hereford, before sealing a move to Leicester City in the summer of 2009.


He played 51 times as the Foxes reached the Championship’s Play-Off Semi Finals in 2009/10 and appeared on 31 occasions in the following campaign.


In 2011/12 he made three appearances for Leicester before having a loan spell at Northampton Town in League 2, which was ended early due to injury.


Weale signed for Shrewsbury Town in the summer of 2012 and appeared 49 times in their League 1 campaign, winning the 2012/13 Player of the Year Award in the process, and he was also a regular in the 2013/14 season.


After leaving Shrewsbury, Weale returned to Yeovil in the summer of 2014 and played nine times in League 1 as well as a further 13 times in League 2 last season, where he was player-goalkeeping coach, before leaving the club at the end of his contract.


In total, Weale has made 415 professional appearances in English football.


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