Gary John Martin (born 10 October 1990) is an English professional

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 plays as a striker for Icelandic club Víkingur on loan from

Selfoss Selfoss may refer to: *Selfoss (town), Iceland *UMF Selfoss, a football club based in Selfoss **Selfoss men's football **Selfoss women's football *Selfoss (waterfall), Iceland *Selfoss Airport Selfoss Airport is an airport serving Selfoss, a to ...

. Besides England, he has played in Hungary, Iceland, Belgium and Norway.

Career

Martin was born in

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

, County Durham. He started his career with

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 ...

, where he came through the club's youth system and was given a youth-team scholarship (YTS) in 2007. He was a prolific goalscorer at both youth and reserve levels, scoring 19 goals in 39 matches for the academy team, and 17 goals in 26 appearances for the reserve team. In June 2009, his YTS was extended by a year, and in the build-up to the 2009–10 season he played with the first team in pre-season. On 23 February 2010, Martin joined

Nemzeti Bajnokság I The Nemzeti Bajnokság (, "National Championship"), also known as NB I, is the top level of the Hungarian football league system. The league is officially named OTP Bank Liga after its title sponsor OTP Bank. UEFA currently ranks the league 28th ...

club

Újpest Újpest (; german: Neu-Pest, en, New Pest) is the 4th District in Budapest, Hungary. It is located on the left bank of the Danube River. The name Újpest means "New Pest" because the city was formed on the border of the city of Pest, Hungary i ...

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 ...

until the end of the season. He went on to make two league appearances during his spell with Újpest, coming on as a substitute in a 4–1 home win against

Diósgyőr Diósgyőr (Hungarian: �dioːʒɟøːr is a historical town in Hungary, today it is a part of Miskolc. The medieval castle in Diósgyőr was a favourite holiday residence of Hungarian kings and queens; today it is a popular tourist attraction. The ...

and a 1–0 defeat away to Lombard-Pápa. After being released by Middlesbrough in May 2010, Martin signed for 1. deild karla club ÍA on 23 July 2010, initially on a short-term contract to the end of the season. He made his debut five days later, coming on as a 54th-minute substitute for Stefán Örn Arnarson in the 1–1 draw with

Fjölnir Fjölnir ( non, Fjǫlnir ) is a legendary king in Norse mythology said to have been the son of Freyr (Frey) and his consort Gerðr (Gertha). The name appears in a variety of forms, including Fiolnir, Fjölner, Fjolner, and Fjolne. He was claime ...

, and scored his first goal for the club two weeks later in a 2–2 draw away to

Þór Akureyri Íþróttafélagið Þór, commonly known as Þór Akureyri, simply Þór or Thór, is a multi-sport club in Akureyri, Iceland. It features departments in Basketball, football, Handball and Taekwondo. Its main rivals is another sport club from A ...

. Martin joined

Danish 1st Division The 1st Division (''1. Division'') is the second-highest football league in Denmark, also known as NordicBet Liga for sponsorship reasons. From 1945 to 1991 the 1. Division was the name of the highest level of football in Denmark. With the forma ...

club

Hjørring Hjørring () is a town on the island of Vendsyssel-Thy at the top of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Hjørring Municipality in the North Jutland Region. The population is 25,644 (accor ...

on loan in August 2011, making seven appearances before the club decided to not extend his loan in November. After two successful seasons, Martin signed for Úrvalsdeild champions KR for a nominal fee. In the 2013 season, KR again won the Úrvalsdeild title, with Martin being joint top scorer in the league with 13 goals. He was named the best foreign player in the league and was selected in the Team of the Year. During the season, Martin also made his first appearance in the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

, scoring his first goal in that competition against

Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882. History Early history In 1914, Glentoran won the Vienna Cup, becoming the first United Kingdom team to win a European t ...

. He was the Úrvalsdeild top scorer in the 2014 season with 13 goals. Martin signed for KR's Úrvalsdeild rivals Víkingur Reykjavík on 15 February 2016 on a three-year contract. On 10 August 2016, he signed for

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a Norwegian professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the Norwegian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion ...

club

Lillestrøm Lillestrøm is a municipality in Viken county. It is located in the traditional district of Romerike. With a population of 85,757 inhabitants, it is the fourth most populated municipality in Viken. It was founded on 1 January 2020 as a merger be ...

on loan for the remainder of the 2016 season, joining up with his former coach at KR,

Rúnar Kristinsson Rúnar Kristinsson (born 5 September 1969) is an Icelandic former professional association football, footballer who played for K.S.C. Lokeren, Lokeren, Lillestrøm SK, Örgryte IS and Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur, KR Reykjavík. He is the cur ...

. He returned to Víkingur Reykjavík in January 2017. Martin signed for

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

club

Lokeren Lokeren () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of East Flanders, and belongs to the Waasland, also called ''Land van Waas'', of which it is the second ...

on 16 January 2017 on a two-and-a-half-year contract, where he again joined up with his former manager Rúnar Kristinsson. Having not played at the beginning of the 2017–18 season, Martin was released on 18 October 2017. On 24 October 2017, Martin signed a three-year contract to return to Lillestrøm, effective from 1 January 2018. He signed for

National League North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...

club

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

on 2 November 2017 on a short-term contract, playing for them in the interim period before his transfer to Lillestrøm. He made his debut two days later in York's 2–1 home win over

Curzon Ashton Curzon Ashton Football Club is an association football club based in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, England. Founded in 1963 and nicknamed "The Nash", the club is affiliated to the Manchester Football Association and currently compete ...

, in which he provided an assist for

Jon Parkin Jonathan Parkin (born 30 December 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. While never making a Premier League appearance, Parkin played extensively in all Football League divisions, and (excluding loan spel ...

to score the opening goal. Martin scored his first goal in his fourth appearance, a 3–1 home victory over Coalville Town in the FA Trophy third qualifying round on 25 November 2017. He scored the opening goal of the match, with a curling shot from the edge of the penalty area into the top-left corner. Martin left the club two days later, because of what York described as a disciplinary issue. It was reported in ''

The Press ''The Press'' is a daily newspaper published in Christchurch, New Zealand owned by media business Stuff Ltd. First published in 1861, the newspaper is the largest circulating daily in the South Island and publishes Monday to Saturday. One comm ...

'' that the club had discovered that he had been playing for Darlington Albion in the Darlington Sunday Morning Invitation League. Martin signed for Úrvalsdeild champions

Valur Valur may refer to: People * Birkir Valur Jónsson (born 1998), Icelandic football player * Björn Valur Gíslason (born 1959), Icelandic politician * Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson (born 1979), Icelandic handball player * Guðni Valur Guðnason (born ...

on 7 January 2019 on a three-year contract. However, after five months with Valur, he left the club to join fellow Úrvalsdeild club ÍBV. He finished as top scorer in the 2019 Úrvalsdeild, with 14 goals for Valur and ÍBV combined. Martin signed for his home-town club,

of the National League North, on 11 January 2020 on loan until late March. In April 2021, ÍBV terminated its contract with Martin after a teammate of his charged him to the police for posting a nude picture of him in a closed

Snapchat Snapchat is an American multimedia instant messaging app and service developed by Snap Inc., originally Snapchat Inc. One of the principal features of Snapchat is that pictures and messages are usually only available for a short time before the ...

group. On 1 May, he signed with 1. deild karla club

. In April 2024, he joined Víkingur on loan.

Career statistics

Honours

ÍA * 1. deild karla:

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

KR * Úrvalsdeild:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

* Icelandic Cup:

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Icelandic Super Cup The Icelandic Men's Super Cup (Icelandic: ''Meistarakeppni karla'') is an annual football game between the reigning champions of the Úrvalsdeild karla and the Icelandic Cup holders (or, if the same team holds both titles, between the title-holde ...

: 2014

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Gary 1990 births Living people Footballers from Darlington English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Middlesbrough F.C. players Újpest FC players Gary Martin Vendsyssel FF players Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur players Knattspyrnufélagið Víkingur players Lillestrøm SK players K.S.C. Lokeren Oost-Vlaanderen players York City F.C. players Valur (men's football) players Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja players Darlington F.C. players Selfoss men's football players Ungmennafélagið Víkingur players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players 1. deild karla players Danish 1st Division players Úrvalsdeild karla (football) players Eliteserien players Belgian Pro League players National League (English football) players English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary Expatriate men's footballers in Iceland Expatriate men's footballers in Norway English expatriate sportspeople in Belgium English expatriate sportspeople in Denmark English expatriate sportspeople in Hungary English expatriate sportspeople in Iceland English expatriate sportspeople in Norway