Gary Pollard (born 30 December 1959) is an English former

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 ...

. A defender, he scored two goals in 192 league appearances in a 12-year career in the Football League. He played for Chesterfield, Port Vale,

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

Eastwood Town Eastwood Town Football Club was an English football club based in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire. The club last participated in the Northern Premier League Division One South, the eighth tier of English football. A new club, Eastwood C.F.C., was f ...

, and Goole Town. He was promoted out of the Fourth Division with Mansfield in 1985–86, and won the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

with the club in

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...

Career

Pollard began his career at Chesterfield, who finished ninth in the Third Division in 1977–78. Arthur Cox's "Spireites" posted a 20th-place finish in 1978–79, before finishing one place and one point outside the

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

places in 1979–80. They finished fifth in 1980–81 under the stewardship of Frank Barlow, just three points short of promotion. They dropped down to 11th spot in 1981–82, before suffering

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

in last place in 1982–83. He spent six years as a professional at

Saltergate Saltergate, officially the Recreation Ground, was the historic home of Chesterfield Football Club, and was in use from 1871 until the club's relocation in July 2010, a 139-year history that made it one of the oldest football grounds in Englan ...

, and scored one goal in 87 league games. Pollard signed with John McGrath's Port Vale in June 1983. He played 18 Third Division games in the 1983–84 season, as the "Valiants" were relegated despite an improvement under new boss

John Rudge John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second ...

. He left

Vale Park Vale Park is a football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, England. It has been the home ground of Port Vale F.C. since 1950. The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49, ...

and moved on to

Ian Greaves Ian Denzil Greaves (26 May 1932 – 2 January 2009) was an English football player and manager. He was born in Crompton, Lancashire. He won a League Championship medal and an FA Cup runners-up medal while playing full-back for Manchester U ...

on a free transfer in July 1984. The "Stags" finished 14th in the Fourth Division in 1984–85, and then secured promotion with a third-place finish in 1985–86. They secured a 10th-place finish in the Third Division in 1986–87. He was a late substitute for Jason Danskin in the 1987 League Trophy final at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

, and converted his

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) A p ...

as Mansfield beat

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

in the

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

. In his three years at

Field Mill Field Mill, currently known as One Call Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football ground in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England, and the home of Mansfield Town Football Club. It is the oldest ground in the Football League, hosting footb ...

, Pollard scored two goals in 82 league and cup games. He moved on to

Noel Cantwell Noel Euchuria Cornelius Cantwell (28 February 1932 – 8 September 2005) was an Irish footballer player and sometime cricketer. Club career Cantwell was born in Cork, Ireland, and was educated at the Roman Catholic Presentation Brothers College ...

, helping the club to finish seventh in the Fourth Division in 1987–88, before new boss Mick Jones took them to a 17th-place finish in 1988–89. He only played 20 league games in his two years at London Road, and was

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 ...

ed out to Northern Premier League sides

and Goole Town.

Career statistics

Source:

Honours

Mansfield Town * Football League Fourth Division third-place promotion: 1985–86 *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollard, Gary 1959 births Living people People from Staveley, Derbyshire Footballers from Derbyshire English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Chesterfield F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players Eastwood Town F.C. players Goole Town F.C. players English Football League players Northern Premier League players