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…..
Image- dailypost.co.uk
CONNOR JENNINGS
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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| image- www.tranmererovers.co.uk |
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
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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.
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| 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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