Alan Andrew Martin (born 1 January 1989) is a Scottish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who currently plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

Gibraltar Football League The Gibraltar Football League is the only senior tier of association football in Gibraltar, founded in 2019 as the Gibraltar National League after a merger of the Gibraltar Premier Division, which served as the top division of football on the R ...

club St Joseph's. Martin has previously played for

Motherwell Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...

, Leeds United,

Barrow Barrow may refer to: Places England * Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria ** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area ** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency) * Barrow, Cheshire * Barrow, Gloucestershire * Barro ...

, Accrington Stanley, Ayr United, Crewe Alexandra, Aldershot Town, Clyde, Hamilton Academical, Dumbarton, Queen of the South,

East Kilbride East Kilbride (; gd, Cille Bhrìghde an Ear ) is the largest town in South Lanarkshire in Scotland and the country's sixth-largest locality by population. It was also designated Scotland's first new town on 6 May 1947. The area lies on a rais ...

and Edinburgh City.

Club career

Martin began his career with the youth system of

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

club

, making the

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

for the 2005–06 season. Martin was an often used as a substitute for Motherwell and failed to make a League appearance for them before moving on.

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

made enquiries about signing Martin in 2007, before he joined League One club Leeds United on an initial two-year contract on 31 August 2007, taking the opportunity to be more involved in a first team squad. Despite not appearing for Leeds he was offered a new contract in September 2008, and moved to

of the

Conference National The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-profes ...

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

to get more first team experience. Martin's time at Barrow was extended to a season-long loan and he became a fans' favourite. Martin was declared

man-of-the-match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

in Barrow's

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

third-round game versus

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

club

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

, receiving praise from the club's co-manager

Dave Bayliss David Anthony Bayliss (born 8 June 1976) is an English football scout. He previously played in defence, and was manager at Barrow. Career Born in Liverpool, Merseyside, Bayliss joined Rochdale and progressed through the ranks, making his Footba ...

. Injuries reduced Martin's appearances for Barrow towards the end of that season. Despite suggestions that Martin could be involved in the Leeds first team for the 2009–10 season, he was loaned out again and joined Accrington Stanley of

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

until January 2010. Martin had his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

debut with Stanley in the opening game of the season in a 1–0 defeat to Rotherham United and fought for the number one jersey with fellow goalkeeper

Ian Dunbavin Ian Stuart Dunbavin (born 27 May 1980) is an English professional football coach and former player who played as a goalkeeper. He spent the majority of his career at then EFL League Two side Accrington Stanley, where he amassed 151 league appear ...

. In total, Martin played ten matches for Accrington Stanley. On 27 October 2009, Leeds recalled him, with current number one goalkeeper

Shane Higgs Shane Peter Higgs (born 13 May 1977) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He made 306 appearances in the Football League and Football Conference between 1996 and 2012, most notably spending ten years at Chelte ...

out with a thigh injury and loanee goalkeeper

Frank Fielding Francis David Fielding (born 4 April 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Stoke City. He began his career at Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League. He spent time on loan at Wycombe Wanderers, Northampton T ...

having returned to his parent club. Martin expected to be the back-up keeper for

Casper Ankergren Casper Ankergren (; born 9 November 1979) is a Danish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is now the Head of Goalkeeping at Danish Superliga side Brøndby IF. He played three matches for the Denmark national under-21 ...

. Martin was regularly on the bench whilst Higgs was out injured, but he was displaced versus Oldham Athletic with

David Martin David or Dave Martin may refer to: Entertainment *David Martin (artist) (1737–1797), Scottish painter and engraver *David Stone Martin (1913–1992), American artist *David Martin (poet) (1915–1997), Hungarian-Australian poet and novelist *Dav ...

having arrived on loan from Liverpool. However, Martin returned as a Leeds substitute versus Huddersfield Town, as Leeds already had five loan players in the squad and David Martin was therefore unable to be included. Martin was part of the Leeds squad that gained promotion to the Championship, although he was confined to being third choice keeper behind

and

. During the summer of 2010 Ankergren left the club and was replaced by

Kasper Schmeichel Kasper Peter Schmeichel (born 5 November 1986) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Nice and the Denmark national team. Schmeichel began his career with Manchester City, but had loan spells with Darlington, B ...

, which meant that Martin continued to be only the third choice goalkeeper. On 4 August 2010, Martin re-joined Barrow on loan until January 2011. On 14 August 2010, Martin made his second debut for Barrow versus Histon and conceded three goals in a 3–1 defeat. In October, after injuries to

and

, Leeds contemplated recalling Martin to act as cover but decided to let him stay at Barrow to help his development. On 4 January 2011, Martin returned to Leeds after Barrow decided they couldn't afford to keep him. On 31 January 2011, Martin's contract was cancelled by mutual consent, allowing him to find a new club, after the loan signing of

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

goalkeeper

David González Giraldo David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

. After his release from Leeds, Martin moved back to Scotland to sign for part-time club Ayr United in

South Ayrshire South Ayrshire ( sco, Sooth Ayrshire; gd, Siorrachd Àir a Deas, ) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto Dumfries and Galloway, East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire. On 30 June 2 ...

. Martin was the regular first choice keeper after signing and helped the Somerset Park club to win promotion to the

Scottish Football League First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 to replace the old Scottish Football League Division Two, as t ...

via the play-offs in May 2011. Although being offered a contract at the ''Honest Men'' for the 2011–12, Martin declined the offer when he stated he wanted to go back to full-time football. Martin signed an initial one-year deal with Crewe Alexandra in July 2011, after impressive performances for the club during their pre-season, finally making his first-team debut on 11 August 2012, keeping a clean sheet in a 5–0 home win over

Hartlepool Hartlepool () is a seaside and port town in County Durham, England. It is the largest settlement and administrative centre of the Borough of Hartlepool. With an estimated population of 90,123, it is the second-largest settlement in County ...

in a Capital One League Cup first round tie. Martin had his League One debut a week later, letting in two goals as Notts County won 2–1 at

Gresty Road Gresty Road or the Alexandra Stadium, currently known as the Mornflake Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Crewe, Cheshire, England. The home ground of Crewe Alexandra, it has an all-seated capacity of 10,153. History Cre ...

. On 27 January 2014, Martin departed Crewe by mutual consent. He moved to Aldershot Town and made three league appearances for the club. Martin was released by Aldershot at the end of the 2013–14 season. In July 2014, Martin spent time on trial with

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

. On 23 September 2014, Martin signed for

Scottish League Two The Scottish League Two, known as cinch League Two for sponsorship reasons, is the fourth tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League Two was ...

club Clyde. He made his debut the same day, as Clyde defeated Montrose 2–1. Martin then signed for Hamilton Academical in June 2015. After one year with the club, Martin moved to

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland Scotland (, ...

club Dumbarton in August 2016, signing a one-year contract with the ''Sons''. Following an impressive season, in which he started 39 matches, Martin won five awards at the club's Player of the Year night, including the Sons Trust Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year. During the middle of May 2017, Martin's future with the ''Sons'' was in doubt, with the keeper allegedly looking for a new club after admitting that the ''Sons'' latest contract offer to be unacceptable. On 25 May 2017, Martin signed a two-year contract with

club Queen of the South. On 29 June 2019, Martin signed for

Lowland League The Scottish Lowland Football League (SLFL, commonly known as the Lowland League) is a senior association football, football league based in central and southern Scotland. The league sits at level 5 on the Scottish football league system, actin ...

club

. On 3 January 2020, Martin signed for Edinburgh City, He was released on a free transfer on 31 January 2020 after just four appearances for the club. On 27 January 2020 he reportedly signed with the Philippines Football League club Global Makati. It was announced on the clubs'

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

account. However, in the summer he moved again, this time to

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

to join Bruno's Magpies. He was unveiled on the club's social media on 4 August.

International career

Martin has played for Scotland at youth levels, up to and including the under-21 team. Martin had his under-21 debut versus

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

in November 2008 and despite playing only nineteen minutes due to an injury, he retained his place as the team's first-choice goalkeeper for some future matches. Martin then played for Scotland in the European Championship Qualifying Play-Offs.

References

External links

* (2006–2010) * (2010 onwards)
Scotland stats
at Scottish FA {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Alan 1989 births Living people Footballers from Glasgow Scottish footballers Scotland under-21 international footballers Association football goalkeepers Motherwell F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. players Ayr United F.C. players F.C. Bruno's Magpies players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Aldershot Town F.C. players Clyde F.C. players Hamilton Academical F.C. players Dumbarton F.C. players Queen of the South F.C. players East Kilbride F.C. players F.C. Edinburgh players English Football League players National League (English football) players Scottish Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Gibraltar National League players Scotland youth international footballers