Comprehensive Biography`s of Connor Jennings, James Jennings,& Mark Kitching by Ian Watts


hedgegrower is grateful to County Historian and blog contributor Ian Watts for compiling, and allowing us first use of an amazing set of biographies he has put together on County`s recent signings.

I have used the word comprehensive to describe these excellent articles and they really are….little or nothing of value is left out.

Ian starts off with the first 3 new players to sign for County, look out for more from him as others join James Gannon`s  County !

Enjoy…..  


CONNOR JENNINGS


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The `forward`s forward ` returns to Edgeley Park Four months short of eight Years after his loan spell started.
Connor was born on 29th October 1991, a few days before Jim Gannon and his teammates suffered a Friday night 1-0 defeat at AFC Bournemouth, which saw them slip to 5th in League Division Three.

STALYBRIDGE STAR

Connor joined the Stalybridge Celtic youth team from a Sunday league side and progressed to their reserves. It was in March 2009 that he made the breakthrough from the reserves, with the senior debut that all players want to achieve coming at home to Hinckley United in the Conference North. Connor came off the bench and scored a fine goal as Celtic turned a 1-0 half time lead into a 7-1 victory.
Celtic were to finish the season in 6th place with Connor adding another couple of goals in a 4-2 win over Burscough that relegated the visitors.
The following season was the Stalybridge Celtic centenary and they claimed 9th spot in the final table. Connor established himself in the side with one of his colleagues being County stalwart Keith Briggs. Celtic had a stuttering start but found their feet with a number of wins during September, including a 7-2 FA Cup win at Stocksbridge Park Steels, with Connor getting one of the six second half goals just as on his debut. Briggs went better with a brace. The home side had taken the lead through a man called Jamie Vardy (he scored both for PS), his shot eluding former County man John Hardiker's attempt to block it on the line.
By the end of the season the teenage Jennings had scored 11 goals in 43 games across all competitions.
In the 2010-11 Conference North season Connor reached 18 goals from the same number of games. The highlight of the first half of the season was probably the club's FA Cup run, which included a replay victory over a high flying Alfreton Town side, but ended just short of the first round proper.
The team never really threatened the playoff places, but still interfered with a few better placed team's challenges, and thanks in part to Connor's 9th of the season They did manage to come back from two down to draw at Corby Town in late Feb, The first time a Celtic side had done this since August 2005.
They finished the league season with a win that sent Stafford Rangers out of the Conference North, a level they have not yet managed to return to, with Connor netting his 5th goal in three games. This game was part of a run of two defeats in their last 21 games which meant a 10th place finish.
Ahead of 2011-12 manager Jim Harvey was delighted to be able to announce in early July that Connor had signed on for another season, but as it would turn out he was to leave halfway through.
They started as they had ended 10-11, although on the opening day they had to overcome a 75 minute delay to kick off and a sending off to go down to ten men and by one goal, to record victory at Nuneaton Town. This was a sign of their determined start to the season, holding second place in the table by the end of September, just two points behind a Hyde United's side who dropped their first points in game 11 of the league season. Connor was already nudging double figures in the goals table.
The first apparent blip came in mid October with a defeat at Dave Challinor's Colwyn Bay, but Connor (scoring two) and his teammates responded with a 5-1 win over Altrincham to climb to the top of the table. Then both goals against Worcester City took Connor to 13 in the Conference North by the start of November
His form was attracting attention and at this point England C manager Paul Fairclough selected him for the non-league's international team to travel to Gibraltar on November 15. Also selected was fellow 13 goal marksman and future Hatter Scott Spencer of Hyde United, the only tier six men in the squad. England suffered a shock 3-1 defeat, but Connor scored their late consolation goal after coming off the bench for the second half.
County were to see his strengths first-hand when on Saturday 10th December 2011, he scored a brace, hitting both of Celtic's goals in a 2-2 draw in our first ever FA Trophy game. He wasn't finished there, hitting the stoppage time winner in the replay three days later as Stalybridge came from behind to knock the Hatters out. We will return to his exploits in this competition later. The defeat was perhaps not too much of a shock as Celtic were still topping their table with Connor and team mate Phil Marsh forming a 30 plus striker partnership, whilst County boss Jim Gannon was less than a month into his second spell in charge, with a significant recovery task on his hands after a dreadful start to our Conference season, with just one win in their last 15 league games.
Connor was to figure in just four more games for Staly, finishing with a late penalty in a 3-1 defeat at home to Tameside neighbours Hyde United on New Year's Day 2012 as the Ewen Field side began to pull away at the top of the table. This meant he had scored 19 goals in just 29 games.

INTO THE FOOTBALL LEAGUE

The side who moved to try Connor in the Football League were Scunthorpe United, who bought him on 5th January 2012, after an earlier bid in late December had been rejected, with Celtic receiving an undisclosed record fee, their chairman confirming it surpassed the £15,000 received for Lee Trundle over ten years earlier. Jennings signed a contract through to the summer of 2014.
His debut for the League 1 strugglers came with around 20 minutes as a sub in a 1-1 draw at Colchester United, and during the remainder of the season he got three more run-outs from the bench, as the Iron retained their place in the division. He would probably have figured more often if he had not broken a bone in his foot during training the week following his debut. The injury was operated on at the end of the month and he was then unavailable for selection until late into the season.
He got his first goal for his newish club in a 5-5 draw against Derby County in the League Cup which they then won 7-6 after penalties, and his first start in a Football League Trophy defeat to Notts County. However, Connor was finding it difficult to earn starting berths, and he had to make a temporary move away for that chance.

CONNOR SIGNS TO HELP THE HATTERS

He was loaned out three times whilst at Scunthorpe, the first of which being when Jim Gannon brought him to Edgeley Park. The cost of bringing in Connor was funded at least in part by a donation facilitated by Help the Hatters, with the boss saying Alan Lord had previously suggested the player to the club a couple of years earlier but the then manager decided against bringing Connor in.
Connor made his debut the day after signing as the team went down 0-2 at Nuneaton Town on 17th November 2012, earning SCAN certificate 1339, which we will look to get presented once the 2020-21 season gets underway.
His trophy exploits continued with the Hatters, scoring a hat trick against Ossett Town in his second game. This meant he became the first player to score for and against us in the competition. Something Danny L Rowe was to achieve with his goal in that semi-final defeat in 2018-19. Connor got another in the next round, but sadly we went out at the hands of Southport.
League goals started to flow for Connor from the end of December but there was to be the disruption of a managerial change with the nonsensical sacking of Jim in mid January, and even more ludicrous appointment of unknown and short lived replacement Darije Kalezić later in the month.
County Matches played by Connor Jennings during that loan spell
17 Nov A v Nuneaton T 0-2
24 Nov H v Ossett T (FAT) 6-0 scoring 3
1 Dec H v Southport 3-4
8 Dec A v Woking 0-1
15 Dec H v Southport (FAT) 1-1 scoring 1
18 Dec A v Southport (FAT) 1-3
26 Dec H v Hyde 0-2
29 Dec H v AFC Telford U 2-2 scoring 1
1 Jan A v Hyde 1-0 scoring 1
5 Jan A v Cambridge U 1-4 scoring 1
15 Jan H v Mansfield T 1-3
19 Jan H v Forest Green Rov 2-1
2 Feb H v Nuneaton T 3-2 scoring 1
9 Feb A v Wrexham 1-3 scoring 1
12 Feb H v Lincoln C 2-0
16 Feb A v Ebbsfleet U 0-0
Connor's loan spell ended on 17th February after that draw at Ebbsfleet. Back at Scunthorpe, by the time United were relegated at the end of the season Connor had added two league starts to that Notts County game, and had a total of 13 substitute appearances in all competitions, but was unable to add to his goals tally. As it turned out he had already played his last first team game for the club, that coming at home to Coventry City on 9th March 2013.

LOANED TO MACC AND GRIMSBY

The final year of his contract was spent out on loan when not suffering from injury.
At the start of the season he went on a planned six-month spell, spending the time between the league kick-off and Mid December at Macclesfield Town.
After his opening four games a red card against Halifax meant a five match ban, but his return saw a re-creation of something like his Stalybridge form, scoring on his first game back, and reaching 17 goals, including a hat-trick against Wrexham on 2 November 2013.
He was involved in yet another high scoring game as the Silkmen beat Vauxhall Motors 7-0 to make the FA Cup proper. Connor scored one of those and got two more as Macc beat Swindon Town in the next round.
An injury at Cambridge United brought an end to his 16 Conference games, and as it needed surgery, he headed back to the Iron.
After recovering from more than one operation Connor went out on loan again, this time for two months with Macclesfield's league rivals Grimsby Town from the last day of February. His debut for the injury hit Mariners came in a 2-0 win over Salisbury City. He found goals harder to come by, scoring just one, somewhat inevitably in the 1-1 draw at Macclesfield, in nine starts and three substitute appearances. Another foot injury meant he missed the last few weeks of the season and he returned to Scunthorpe for the inevitable news in mid-May that he was not being offered a new contract, a fate also suffered by fellow former Hatters from the Iron squad, Andy Welsh and Christian Ribeiro.

NEXT STOP WREXHAM

There were reports that Grimsby were amongst the clubs who wanted to recruit the striker, but on 11th July 2014 he signed for Welsh side Wrexham.
 
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His debut for them came on 9th August at Dartford in a 2-1 victory.
During this season Wrexham made the FA Cup third round proper with Connor getting an important equaliser, his third goal of the season, at former club Macclesfield in QR4. He also picked up a last-minute yellow card so missed the replay but was back for the rest of the run.
He was back facing County in January when they were drawn together in the second round of the FA Trophy. Connor was again in scoring action against the Hatters, that goal in the first tie at Edgeley Park saw him extend his Trophy haul to four, the highest by any individual player against County in this competition. Strangely the 6-2 defeat in the replay became the only meeting with County in which he has failed to score. His closest contender is his Wrexham teammate that season Nick Rushton who has three of the 53 goals we have conceded in this competition to date.
That victory over County was part of a fine run of eight games that had taken Wrexham to a Wembley final. Connor played in every Trophy match, but had to settle for a runners-up medal as they lost out on 29 March, the final was not an end of season affair then, to North Ferriby United 5-4 on penalties after a 3-3 draw.
He totalled 41 league games, six as a sub, but would not have been happy with a tally of six goals as the Red Dragons finished 11th.
Wrexham appointed a new manager in April and he was obviously happy with Connor's performances despite the relative lack of goals, offering a new contract Connor signed on for another year in early June and amongst the additions made to the Racecourse squad were familiar names to County fans, Sean Newton, Javan Vidal and Adriano Moke.
Despite slipping away from the leaders when they hit a sticky patch of results in October, overall it was a better season for Wrexham as far as the National League games and for Connor personally with respect to his strike rate. There was to be no repeat of cup heroics though as they went out in the qualifying round of the FA Cup during that sticky patch, and won through only one tie in the Trophy. The last game of the season on 30th April, at Barrow was lost 2-0, and would be Jennings' last for the club.
Their final placing saw a slight improvement to 8th, and Connor improved his tally to 14 missing just one National League game.

UP THE LEAGUES WITH TRANMERE

In the closed season, Connor, who had ended his time at Wrexham as captain, was to reject the new contract on offer and make the move that led to three successful seasons for himself and the team he joined, Tranmere Rovers. With a two year contract signed he joined his new County colleague Lois Maynard who was already on the Prenton Park books, and Darren Stephenson made the switch from Chorley to sign for Rovers boss, former Hatters player, Gary Brabin, at a similar time.


 
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Jennings made his debut in the opening day 2-0 win at Bromley, and his new team made a great start topping the fledgling table with five straight wins, their first defeat came in their eighth match, and it was at this point Connor picked up a knee injury which kept him out for three months, returning in December. Whilst he was not available the man who brought him to Prenton was sacked five games after their unbeaten start ended.
He made his return in December, but The Wirral side sent Connor out to divisional rivals Macclesfield Town on 6th February 2017. His last game for Rovers before heading out on loan had been in a 4-2 defeat at the Silkmen.
His latest debut came five days later at Torquay United and ended in draw. Connor started five games, giving him the match fitness boost required by the Rovers management, finishing with a game against Forest Green Rovers in early March.
Three days after that Forest Green game Connor was back in action for Tranmere.
He went on to establish himself as a first team regular through to the end of the season. His stint in the side coincided with an excellent run of form for Tranmere which saw them narrowly miss out on the National League title.
Connor contributed 6 goals in the April run-in which included a hat trick in the 9-0 win over Solihull Moors. They were in a head to head battle with Lincoln City, and this score line increased their chances of a top place finish if it came down to goal difference.
I remember being in a Gainsborough pub with the Man in a Hat, still making our way back to Stockport the day after Danny Lloyd's winner against Trinity, when we were chatting to a local man who aside from a surprising knowledge of the pubs and landlords of Stockport was a Lincoln City fan. I can assure you that even the following day the Imps supporters were very very suspicious of this score line as Tranmere tried to tip them for the title. He did not have to worry as it turned out as Rovers efforts were in vain.
Connor had reached 7 goals in the promotion challenge despite playing only half Rovers games that season. Tranmere claimed their expected place in the play-off final, and Connor scored in the game against Forest Green , however, his long range finish was not enough to prevent a 3-1 defeat.
After this disappointment Tranmere knuckled down and went again, but it was to be another 2nd place finish. The experience of a year earlier must have been good preparation as this time they came out on top in the end of season knock out competition, Connor setting up James Norwood for the winning goal in a 2-1 victory over Boreham Wood .The striker notched eight goals in his 43 National League games.
He signed a new two-year contract ahead of the 2018-19 season. The step up to League 2 proved no real problem as the side claimed 6th place and another go at the play off lottery.
Tranmere negotiated the play off semi-final to qualify for their third visit to Wembley in three seasons. In the process they gained a little revenge for two years earlier by beating Forest Green in the semi.
Connor ensured his place in Rovers history when in the 2019 League Two play-off final, he scored the winner after 119 minutes his second career goal at Wembley, as Tranmere beat Newport County 1-0.
He missed just one league game, although he came on in two of those matches whilst his goal tally was 8 league and 4 FA Cup.
Last season the three memorable preceding years were tarnished somewhat as Rovers suffered relegation. They had looked to be making a move to climb out of the relegation places by winning their last three games before lockdown, all away from home, the final one by a 2-1 margin at Blackpool on 10th March which would be Connor's last for the club. However, the PPG table saw them drop back to League 2.
Rovers and Connor had struggled to find goals, not helped by a very poor home pitch, and the highlight was an FA Cup run that included a win over top tier side Watford after coming from three behind in the first tie. They reached a Fourth Round tie with Manchester United which ended in a heavy home defeat.
He started 23 League 1 games, adding six as a sub scoring four goals, adding 8+2 apps and 3 goals in the cup competitions.
In June Connor left Tranmere but a player of his ability would always have been a contender for the Hatters who were now full time , and we all look forward to the striker adding even more goals to an impressive career tally.
Sources: Stalybridge Celtic website archive section, Silkmen archive, and various local newspapers

Ian Watts
 

JAMES JENNINGS



Image-alchetron.com



From Reddish to Macclesfield
 

Born on 2nd September 1987, two days before County beat Carlisle United 3-0 at Edgeley Park with goals from Andy Hodkinson, Clive Evans and Denis Cronin (his only one for the club in a senior game) To go 5th in the early Division Four table.
A schoolboy player with Reddish Vulcans, James was spotted by Gordon Hill and as a result attended the Academy at Manchester City for 7 years. He spent much of that time as captain of the various age group sides, and had the opportunity to take part in a number of foreign tours.
Released by them at aged 15, he switched to the Macclesfield Town Centre of Excellence. The finish of the second year of his apprenticeship coincided with the end of the 2005-06 season and he initially signed a weekly contract, before signing on for a longer term before the players reported back for training at the start of July.
His progress was such that he made his senior competitive debut as a sub in an FA Cup victory over Walsall, a result which led to a tie at Chelsea where the youngster again came off the bench, replacing future Hatter Matty McNeil as Macc lost 1-6 after equalising in the first half and losing their keeper to a red card.
For the rest of the season he was used occasionally, at times playing alongside former County youngster Jordan Hadfield, who was himself in his first season as a professional. He recorded five starts, with six as sub, including those two FA Cup games,
James signed a short contract during the summer but he found it more difficult to get games the following season. As a result, soon after being signed up through to the end of the season, he went on loan to Altrincham on a deal, scheduled to last until April. He was ever present for 10 games after a new Years day 2008 debut at Northwich Victoria. A suspension ended this run, and before he could figure for Alty again former Hatter Keith Alexander had taken over as manager at his parent club, and he was recalled from the loan towards the end of February. His fourth boss in his two professional seasons at Macc put him straight back into the side and by seasons end he had totalled 12 appearances.

Another contract was put on the table and when the players returned for training in first week of July James signed on for a third year on Macclesfield's books. It was a relatively uneventful season until a game against Gillingham in February. There had been a sending off that was blasted by boss as a ridiculous decision, and another top flight FA Cup game, this time a 1-0 reverse at home to Everton. A knee injury suffered in that Gillingham game meant that after 20 appearances Macclesfield had to retain their League status without the services of the player known as JJ. At season's end the Silkmen decided they could do without his services permanently as he was one of a raft of players released.
Over those three seasons he occasionally faced County in matches, although he missed out on his first game for Macc against us when he remained an unused sub as they beat the visiting County side on Saturday 14th April 2007.
That first game eventually came when James replaced Izak Reid during our next visit as the Silkmen suffered a 0-1 home defeat to County in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy on Tuesday 9th October 2007.
He was in the starting line-up in March that season when we won 2-0 thanks to a Jason Taylor brace in the EP football league meeting.
His final game against County for the Silkmen came in the pre-season Friendly of July 2008 when the newly promoted Hatters travelled south for a 2-2 draw.

Into  Non League with Kettering Town


Despite Altrincham apparently believing they had lined up James he chose to sign for Blue Square Premier Rivals Kettering Town. Pre-season included a goal in a 2-1 win over a Peterborough United side, a score that was repeated, albeit without a goal for James, in his debut at future employers Forest Green Rovers on the opening day of the league season.
This season was to be a new experience for Jennings, for although Macc had one or two good runs of results they generally were towards the bottom of the table, whilst his new club were to just miss out on the play-offs with a 6th place finish after an impressive opening month or so. And they did make the FA Cup second round proper, although another knee injury kept him out of these ties.
There were some less savoury moments of course, at Barrow in February the hosts manager took it on himself to get involved in a mass brawl, attacking James who was booked for pushing a home player into the perimeter wall.
He ended the season with three goals in 36 league appearances. The summer break saw interest from Cambridge United, and he switched to the Conference rivals, who had finished 10th, for a tribunal set undisclosed fee.

Establishes Himself at Cambridge.

It was a move that was to see him play over 100 games in three seasons, but his new employers never really looked like making the play offs during that time. It certainly did not start well as the Us went through nearly all the opening month of the 2010-11 season without a win, and James was red carded at Mansfield for handball. His suspension was not immediate so he was able to figure in the first win a couple of days later scoring his only goal of the season for good measure.
He figured in all but eight of their league games that season, whilst the FA Cup saw them qualify for the first round, where they held Huddersfield Town 0-0 at home before going out to late goals after leading at the Galpharm. By seasons end Cambridge were in 17th place.

Amongst the new teams for them to face in 2011-12 were a team who left the Football League for the first time since 1905, our own Stockport County.
James face County on Thursday 6th October 2011 when they drew 2-2 with the visiting County side.
The return game in March saw James beat the Hatters for the first time, as the visitors took a 1-0 win.
A few weeks later he extended a contract that had six months to run, adding another year and by season's end he had chalked up another 41 games (2 goals), plus two more in the FA Cup.
The following season, as with all our meetings in tier five, James started the game when Cambridge returned to SK3 on the opening day of September 2012, and the teams shared two goals.
That seasons return game is best glossed over as we lost 4-1 in early January.
At the end of that January having played 22 games and scored three goals he was allowed to join Mansfield Town, but it is unclear whether it was a free transfer or if a fee was involved.
Sadly this move gave him chance to be involved in another 4-1 thrashing of County in March. I doubt that there are many players who figured in victories by the same heavy scoreline in their last two games against opponents they were later to join, albeit seven years later.
Whilst depressing for all involved, that defeat at Mansfield was perhaps not as poor as the one suffered against his previous employers, as Town were heading for the title, with James recording 13 appearances, and promotion back into the Football League.

Football League with Mansfield, But Moves on Again.


Back in the EFL, James was a regular for Mansfield, totalling 33 games (1 as sub,) and he continued to pop up with the occasional goal whilst with the Stags. He had scored six for Cambridge, and notched four during that first full season for the Nottinghamshire side as they finished a respectable 11th.

The summer saw him on the move again, returning to the Conference promotion battle for two seasons with Forest Green Rovers. Despite joining them On 3rd June 2014 James would have to wait until the play offs at the end of the season For his debut due to a pre-season injury. That match saw Rovers lose out in the semi-final second leg against Bristol Rovers in front of 10,563.

 
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The following season he was regularly involved as Rovers claimed second place, but they again fell to defeat in the end of season play-offs, this time losing at Wembley. The following day Rovers announced that they were not going to offer the player, who had made the League's Team of the Season, a new contract.


Football League Return.


So two play-off failures for Rovers, but Jennings did quickly return to the Football League, his third stint coming when he joined Cheltenham Town. But just one month into the season they loaned him to divisional rivals Morecambe until January. He went on to play 15 games in the North West, including two in the FA Cup.
After his return from the Shrimpers, a similar contract arrangement saw James sign for Wrexham for the first time, a club his younger brother Connor had left the previous summer. In helping his temporary employers climb away from relegation fears he added another 15 games to his tally.
He had made just three league appearances for his parent club, one as sub, and added a sub app in the League Cup and a goalscoring game in the League Trophy. Unsurprisingly Cheltenham released him at season's end, but he was snapped up by the Welsh side and would go on to play at the Racecourse for three seasons.
Three seasons in the principality
Less than a month after finishing his loan spell, Jennings was signed on a permanent basis. After a losing start at home to his first professional club, James continued to be a vital part of the side, missing just six National League games that first season, scoring four times.
They made a slight improvement finishing 10th, but it was in the second year of his contract that the Welsh side finally mounted a promotion challenge.
They climbed to 4th place but the first stage of the play offs saw the hard work come to nothing with a home defeat to Eastleigh thanks to an extra time goal. He scored only twice this season, adding 34 games to his league total, but despite the disappointing end to the season James signed on for another season.
Last season thoughts that Wrexham could build on that play off place to finally try and return to the EFL were shattered very early on, and the Red Dragons spent the season towards or in the relegation places, even hitting bottom spot in November. James himself described it as a roller-coaster ride. Their brief FA Cup run ended in the first round proper with a replay defeat to Rochdale. A knee injury against Dagenham and Redbridge at the start of February meant that Jennings season ended even earlier than the rest of the football world. His boss did want to discuss a new contract with the player who scored four times in 30 league appearances, but the left wing back decided to try a new ride, with a move to Edgeley Park to play for Jim Gannon a more attractive proposition.

County Brothers- Possibly a Competitive First .


His brother Connor signed for the Hatters on the same day and the first National League team sheet they appear on together will be the first time brothers have worn a County shirt for a senior competitive match since Mark and Paul Wroe sat alongside each other for the 90 minutes of the FL Trophy game on 20th January 1986 as the visiting Bolton Wanderers side held us to a 2-2 draw.

Another pair of brothers, Oshor and Peter Williams, were in the starting line-up and an unused substitute respectively for three consecutive division four games from 26 September 1983.
Aside than that the Waterall brothers are the last known pair to play alongside each other in a first team game, when Tommy joined his County registered sibling Albert for some WW I football action.
The other contenders for match day partners are from back in the 19th century with the Riley brothers Sam and William. I am still trying to check if they played in a competitive game together; if so it would probably be a county cup game.
Sources: Alty Files website, Macclesfield Town fanzine, various local newspapers

Ian Watts. 


MARK KITCHING



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MARK KITCHING
Mark was the youngest of the players signed so far (for a couple of days) at age 24, and the least travelled with County only his fourth permanent employers. From his reported position it seems likely that he will be competing with James Jennings on the left hand side, but with both men capable of playing in defence or in a more attacking midfield role, they may well form a twin County threat for the Hatters next season.
Mark, son of the late well-known north east music promoter Tom, was born in Guisborough, and is only the second known County signing to hail from that town, following in the footsteps of Mark Robinson who was still playing for his home town team last season, some fourteen years since he left Edgeley Park.

On the day he was born, Monday 4th September 1995,  a County youth team beat Chorley 3-0 at Edgeley Park in the FA Youth Cup, the County team included the main man behind the moves to bring an Isle of Man side into the English Pyramid, yet another Paul Jones, with them due to join the North West Counties league for 20-21.  The following day  the first team travelled to Wrexham and earned a 2-2 draw in the League Cup second leg, with our current boss getting County's all important second goal  after Jeff Eckhardt had brought them back into the game. County went through to round two 3-2 on aggregate.

As A lifetime Middlesbrough supporter and season ticket holder, he must have been delighted to join the academy set up at his favourites when aged 8, and he was to be involved for fourteen years.
The first mention I can find of him in action from my sources is from the Middlesbrough Evening Gazette in August 2013 reporting on a friendly between Boro's under 18 side and Ajax of Amsterdam. Mark helped set up the winner as they completed a 100 % record over three games against various Dutch sides.
By November that year he had broken into the Under 21 side, including scoring by all accounts an impressive goal at Hyde United against Manchester City EDS.
His impressive progress continued and by April that season he was named on the bench for the first team game at home to Derby County, not bad for someone yet to sign his first full professional contract. He wore the shirt again as an unused sub a short time afterwards. Then just before their last home game of the season it was announced that a deal had been agreed to sign the player on as a full time professional.
Even at this young age as a new Boro professional he was in demand as a local celebrity, invited back to his old school, Belmont, for an event which saw him reportedly signing autographs and posing for pictures with the children. He and Middlesbrough were not to know those two games in 2014 Were to be as close as Mark would get to a competitive first team debut.
TREBLE WINNERS
It was back to the under 21s at the start of the next season, where Mark and his team mates showed great early form rising to the top of the table by the end of September and they continued to challenge in their League whilst the new year saw them into the semi-finals of the Premier League U21 League Cup and the North Riding Senior Cup, with Mark regularly reported as a threat to opposition defences.
By the end of March they were five points clear in the Under-21 Premier League Second Division, and went on to win the treble, ending with a nine game winning run.
SENIOR DEBUT
The 2015-16 season again saw no first team opportunity at Boro, but he did get his first senior game. In November he went out on loan to League 2 side York City, but was to play only one game He was brought in after the Bootham Crescent side had lost a game two days previously 6-0. The manager decided to give debuts to six men in the home game with Accrington Stanley, including five aged under 21. Kitching's performance was reported as the exception during a calamitous defensive display that saw the visitors win 5-1.
For the remainder of his month at Bootham Crescent he was not given another chance to make an impact although on the bench for some matches, So could not take any of the blame for City's loss of EFL status when they ended the season bottom of the table

BACK TO BORO
He returned to Boro and a relegation battle in the age group league, but all the time he was getting experience playing in other positions in addition to his regular left back spot, even being tried in the number 10 role.

The 2016-17 season would see Mark face a wide variety of opponents, and he even had a trial with Colchester United playing for them in the Under 23 league in August.
That trial came to nothing but the EFL's summer decision to lessen the value of their Trophy competition by allowing in what in effect were reserve teams, in the form of Premier and Championship u21 sides gave Mark his highest level games for Middlesbrough. Mark played in two of their group games, both ending in 2-1 defeats. He started at Scunthorpe United soon after his Colchester trial, and came off the bench in early October at Cambridge United.
One other game is worth mentioning as later in October he was part of the Boro U23 side that in their first match in the Premier League International Cup beat holders Villarreal 1-0.

NEXT CALL SPOTLAND
But the real attraction for a man now out of his teenage years was first team football, and his chance came a few months later.
A late January 2017 loan move to Rochdale saw him named on the bench for their FA Cup tie against Huddersfield Town, but he was needed early on and went into central midfield as the hosts lost 4-0 at Spotland. A few days later the transfer was made permanent on deadline day and he signed a contract through to the end of the following season.
Dale had a decent enough season finishing 9th, with Mark adding Four EFL starts and 1 sub appearance to that cup tie, although there were also a number of games warming the bench. There were plenty of ex-Hatters amongst his teammates, including Conrad Logan and Jim McNulty.

 
image- rochdaleafc.co.uk





During the following season As Rochdale avoided relegation by one place, Mark was actively involved in over a third of their games, including six appearances in an FA Cup run that ended in a replay defeat in the 5th round at Wembley versus Tottenham Hotspur where the visiting fans got to celebrate a first half equaliser, and almost the lead as former County trainee Andy Cannon hit the post soon after.
This was an early VAR game with the technology even reportedly to have interfered with pitch markings - the colour of these having to be changed on a snow covered pitch, because the system could not see the originals. It really does sound like a bit of a chore for those braving the freezing temperatures, with VAR constantly involved, and even the ref helping to wind-up both sets of fans, ordering the second half kick-off to be retaken.
Mark also managed to score twice during the season. His strike in the EFL came as part of a Dale double in stoppage time helping earn a victory over Doncaster Rovers.

BACK EAST

After his release by 'Dale Mark headed back to the north east, signing a two year contract for Hartlepool United. He was to spend two seasons as a regular choice, under various managers.
Taking the number three shirt his debut came in an opening day 1-1 draw at Maidstone United. Despite losing just one of the first 12 games, including an eight game unbeaten run, It was to be a very disappointing season with 'Pools finishing in 17th place, but they did reach the first round of the FA Cup, losing a home replay 4-3 after extra time to Gillingham.


Last season saw more of the same for Hartlepool although this time they did look to mount something of a play off challenge after former Hatter Dave Challinor took over as the gaffer on November 5th.
The change of manager came shortly after Mark had made his only appearance against County. That came in the televised National League meeting in October 2019 when a late goal proved only a consolation for the monkey hangers as our two first half goals earned the three points.
By the time the season was suspended Mark had chalked up 43 appearances including one in the FA Cup third round. He hit the back of the net twice, one in the League, a right footed winner versus Dagenham and one in the FA Cup proper. His last game coming with a 1-1 draw at Sutton United, which when PPG calculations were made left Hartlepool four places behind what was to become his new club.
Challinor initially said that talks would be held with Mark about a new contract, but later revealed he would be leaving the club as these discussions had not made any progress.
His EP signing was revealed the day after the Jennings brothers had joined and took the County squad up to fifteen players.

Ian Watts

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Simply Disgraceful !

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