Ambitious Championship club York have signed former Warrington and England centre Ryan Atkins for 2021.

Atkins, who will be 35 when he makes his Knights debut, scored 165 tries in 272 Super League matches during his nine years with The Wire and is currently fifth in the list of all-time try scorers in the competition with a total of 186.

Upon leaving for former club Wakefield part-way through last season, Atkins held the distinction of being The Wire's top try-scorer of the Super League era and scoring the most tries by a centre in the club's history as well as having scored the most amount of tries at The Halliwell Jones Stadium since it opened.

He played in four of Trinity's first six matches of the 2020 campaign, but has not been selected since the resumption of Super League in August and has now left the club.

Atkins, a two-time Challenge Cup winner who won eight caps for England, becomes York's third high-profile capture for 2021 following their signing of Wakefield club captain Danny Kirmond and former Warrington half-back Morgan Smith from London Broncos.

York coach James Ford said: "Ryan is a big signing for us and I'm sure the supporters will be excited to watch him impose his physicality on our opponents.

"His track record speaks for itself - but I'm excited to work with someone who I feel will help lift standards on and off the field. We see Ryan as a leader and we'll be expecting him to lead us right from the front."

Atkins, who will become a part-time player, said: "One of the reasons I've joined is to get us promoted and playing in Super League. That stadium 100 per cent deserves to be in Super League."