Andrew Peter Martin (born 28 February 1980) is a retired Welsh footballer. He is a former Welsh Under-21 international and played in the

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 ...

for Crystal Palace,

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

and

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'The ...

before dropping into non-league football. He was manager of

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

side

Merstham Merstham is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It lies 25 miles south of Charing Cross and 2 miles south of the Greater London border. Part of the North Downs Way runs along the northern boundary of the town. Mers ...

between 2011 and 2012.

Career

Martin was educated at Corpus Christi High School in Cardiff. He was a proficient sportsman who excelled in basketball and track and field, and captained the school's Rugby team (which also included future

Newport RFC Newport Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Casnewydd) is a Welsh rugby union club based in the city of Newport, South Wales. They presently play in the Welsh Premier Division. Until 2021 Newport RFC were based at Rodney Parade situated on t ...

prop Dai Pattison (highly successful rugby player) and

Telford Tigers The Telford Tigers are a National Ice Hockey League (NIHL) ice hockey team that formed in 1985. After initially closing in 1999, a new team, under the name 'Telford Wild Foxes', was formed in 2001; and re-adopted the original name in 2005. The t ...

' ice hockey forward Joe Miller) to the final of the Welsh National Schools Competition in May 1996. However, it was in football that he came to prominence after he was selected for the Wales Under-19s that year, and was spotted by a scout from Crystal Palace, of whom he was an avid supporter in his school days. A year later, Martin began his career as a trainee at Crystal Palace, turning professional in the 1997 close season, making his debut on 3 April 1999, playing in Palace's 1–0 win away to Norwich City. He made two further appearances at the end of that season. He was a regular squad member the following season, although played only 18 times. He did however score two goals for Palace that season, the first coming on 26 December 1999 as Palace lost 2–1 away to

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

and the second on 5 February 2000 as Palace lost 2–1 away to

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

. Martin found himself out of favour in the 2000–01 season, playing just once for Palace, in a 0–0 draw at home to Tranmere Rovers in the League Cup when he came on as substitute for Fan Zhiyi with just four minutes of extra-time remaining. This was to be his final first team appearance for Palace. In March 2002 he joined

on loan, having trained at

Plainmoor Plainmoor is an association football stadium located in the Plainmoor suburb of Torquay, Devon, England. Since 1921, the stadium has been the home of Torquay United Football Club, who currently compete in the National League, the fifth tier of E ...

for several weeks before and scored in a friendly win away to

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

. He made his Torquay debut on 30 March 2002, playing in the 1–0 win away to Shrewsbury Town. he made four further appearances for Torquay before leaving at the end of his one-month loan spell. He was released by Crystal Palace at the end of the season and in August 2002 joined

. He played just once in the Conference for Hereford, as a substitute in their 2–1 win at home to Farnborough Town on 17 August, but was released the following month. He had a trial with

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

and joined

Tooting & Mitcham United Tooting & Mitcham United Football Club is an association football club based in the London Borough of Merton. They are currently members of the and play at Imperial Fields in Morden. Their nickname is "the Terrors" or "the Stripes". History ...

in September 2002. A month later he moved to

Hornchurch Hornchurch is a suburban town in East London, England, and part of the London Borough of Havering. It is located east-northeast of Charing Cross. It comprises a number of shopping streets and a large residential area. It historically formed ...

and joined Sutton United in July 2004. He was last in Sutton's match squad on 26 December 2004. He then played for

Dulwich Hamlet Dulwich Hamlet Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in East Dulwich in south-east London, England. They are currently members of and play at Champion Hill. History The club was formed in 1893, by Lorraine 'Pa' Wilson. T ...

before being released as part of their cost-cutting measures in February 2005. He joined

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional Association football, football club, based in London Borough of Merton, Merton, London, that plays in the EFL League Two, after being relegated from the EFL League One following the 2021–22 EFL Leagu ...

a few days later. After leaving Wimbledon, he played for Whyteleafe and

Croydon Athletic Croydon Athletic Football Club was an English football club based in Thornton Heath in the London Borough of Croydon, London, England. It was founded in 1986 and initially named as Wandsworth & Norwood until 1990. The club progressed through ...

, who he left to join

Tonbridge Angels Tonbridge Angels Football Club is a professional football club based in Tonbridge, Kent, England. The club was founded as Tonbridge Football Club in 1947 and became known as "The Angels" in 1949 when they started playing at the Angel Ground. S ...

late in the 2006 close-season. He joined

Cray Wanderers Cray Wanderers Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in Sidcup, London. Based on later reports, the club has a claim to have been established some time in 1860 in the twin villages of St Mary Cray and St Paul's Cr ...

in January 2007. He played a pre-season game for

Welling United Welling United Football Club is a professional football club, based in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, England. The club's first team play in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football. History Welling United Foot ...

before joining

Maidstone United Maidstone United Football Club is a professional football club based in Maidstone, Kent, England. The team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league system. The current club filled the void left by the ol ...

in July 2007, but left in December 2007 to join

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley District of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxon period, Leath ...

. He then moved to

Fisher Athletic Fisher Athletic F.C. were a semi-professional football club from South East London, which last played in the Conference South, which is one of the two leagues that form the sixth tier of the English football league system. The Bermondsey-based ...

in July 2008. He rejoined

in August 2008 before returning to Whyteleafe later that year. He retired as a player in the summer of 2009 to focus on his coaching activities. In February 2011 Martin was made temporary manager of

Isthmian League Division One South The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 teams ...

outfit

, a role that was made permanent in the summer of 2011. However, he only lasted 20 games before being replaced by Antony Williams and Rob Smith.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Andy 1980 births Living people Welsh men's footballers Wales men's under-21 international footballers Crystal Palace F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Tooting & Mitcham United F.C. players Hornchurch F.C. players Sutton United F.C. players Dulwich Hamlet F.C. players AFC Wimbledon players Whyteleafe F.C. players Croydon Athletic F.C. players Tonbridge Angels F.C. players Cray Wanderers F.C. players Maidstone United F.C. players Leatherhead F.C. players Fisher Athletic F.C. players Merstham F.C. managers Men's association football forwards Welsh football managers