Mark Geoffrey Crossley (born 16 June 1969) is a football coach and former 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 ...

. As a player, he was 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 ...

from 1988 until 2011 and he has previously played for numerous clubs in England's top flight, notably for

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

, where he became the only goalkeeper to stop a

Matt Le Tissier Matthew Paul Le Tissier (; born 14 October 1968) is a former professional footballer. Born in Guernsey, he won eight caps for the England national team. Le Tissier spent his entire professional club career with Southampton before turning to non ...

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

. He has also played for

Manchester United 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 City of Salford, Salford to ...

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

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 ...

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

and

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

. He earned three caps for the

England U21 The England national under-21 football team, also known as England under-21s or England U21(s), is considered to be the feeder team for the England national football team. This team is for England players aged under 21 at the start of the calen ...

team, but opted to switch allegiance to

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

and received eight full international caps between 1997 and 2004. Following retirement, he moved into coaching and has worked as a goalkeeping coach at Chesterfield, Sheffield Wednesday,

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

and

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...

. During these times he has spent two spells in caretaker charge of a club, having managed Chesterfield in 2012 and Notts County in 2018.

Club career

Nottingham Forest

Crossley was born in

and began his career with

in 1987 as a trainee. He started the 1988–89 season as fourth choice but

Hans Segers Johannes "Hans" Segers (born 30 October 1961) is a Dutch football coach and former professional player who played as a goalkeeper. As a player, he notably spent eight years with Wimbledon where he featured in the Premier League. He also played ...

and

Paul Crichton Paul Andrew Crichton (born 3 October 1968) is an English football coach and former footballer. He is he goalkeeper coach of National Women's Soccer League club Orlando Pride. Aa a player he was a goalkeeper from 1986 to 2011. During his playi ...

were transferred in quick succession to

Wimbledon F.C. Wimbledon Football Club was an English football club formed in Wimbledon, south-west London, in 1889 and based at Plough Lane from 1912 to 1991. Founded as Wimbledon Old Centrals, the club were a non-League team for most of their history. ...

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 ...

respectively, and when Steve Sutton fell ill, Crossley found himself thrust into the first team, playing in league wins over

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

and a League Cup win over

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

before Sutton's return. He had a loan spell at

during the 1989–90 season but was never selected for the first team, although he played three times for the reserves. He had two spells in Forest's team, firstly when Sutton was injured and later when Sutton suffered a loss of form. He was a huge favourite with the fans, despite being prone to occasional mistakes, and made over 300 appearances in thirteen years with the club, becoming first-choice 'keeper at the start of the 1990–91 season. This was strengthened by Steve Sutton's move to

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

in 1992. Crossley played in the 1991 FA Cup Final loss to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

, where he saved a penalty from

Gary Lineker Gary Winston Lineker (; born 30 November 1960) is an English former professional footballer and current sports broadcaster. He is regarded as having been one of the greatest English strikers. His media career began with the BBC, where he has p ...

. He missed a run of games towards the end of the 1991–92 season, including the

Full Members Cup The Full Members' Cup was an association football cup competition held in English football from 1985 to 1992. It was also known under its sponsored names of the Simod Cup from 1987 to 1989 and the Zenith Data Systems Cup from 1989 to 1992. Th ...

and

Football League Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

finals against

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

and

respectively due to a breach of club rules. Andrew Marriott wore the gloves in his place, although Crossley regained his place for the next league game after the second final. He also has the dubious distinction of conceding the first Premier League

own goal An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...

, in Forest's 4–1 defeat at

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

on 5 September 1992. He was granted a testimonial match during the 1999–2000 season by Nottingham Forest, which was played in front of 15,000 supporters. During that season, Crossley found himself on the bench numerous times, playing second choice 'keeper to

Dave Beasant David John Beasant (; born 20 March 1959) is an English football coach and former football goalkeeper. As a player, he was a goalkeeper, who notably played top-flight football for Wimbledon, Newcastle United, Chelsea, Southampton and Notting ...

. He was finally released from Forest, in 2000 as the club's financial troubles required them to reduce the wage bill.

Middlesbrough

Crossley joined

on a free transfer to provide competition as well as cover for the number one spot at the club. He made seven appearances in the 2000–01 season, but was sent off against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in November 2000, and did not play again for the rest of the season. He played 18 more games in the 2001–02 season. He was loaned out to

on 29 November 2002 and played against Gillingham the next day. However, he was recalled by Boro until he re-joined Stoke towards the end of the 2002–03 season. He played in 11 matches helping the club avoid relegation from the First Division.

Fulham

Frustrated by not playing many games at Boro, Crossley joined

for £500,000 in 2003 and made his debut against

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

at the

JJB Stadium The DW Stadium is a stadium in Robin Park, in Wigan, within the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The ground is owned and managed by Wigan Football Company Limited, which is 85% owned by Wigan Athletic and 15% owned ...

on 23 September 2003. He was mainly the second-choice goalkeeper during his time at the club, although he did have more opportunities to play in the first team during the 2005–06 season due to the sale of former number 1 goalkeeper

Edwin van der Sar Edwin van der Sar (; born 29 October 1970) is a Dutch football executive and former professional player who is currently the chief executive of AFC Ajax, with whom he began his senior playing career in the early 1990s; he is considered to be a m ...

. His finest match that season came when, deputising for the injured Finnish international Antti Niemi, he kept a clean sheet against champions

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

in a 1–0 victory, producing many saves as Chelsea piled pressure on late in the game. Before joining

on loan, he was the number 3 'keeper to Niemi and Czech goalkeeper

Jan Laštůvka Jan Laštůvka (born 7 July 1982) is a Czech professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Baník Ostrava. Career Laštůvka was born in Havířov. He started his career at Czech side FC Karviná and moved in summer 2000 to FC Baník Os ...

at Fulham.

Sheffield Wednesday

Former teammate and

manager

Brian Laws Brian Laws (born 14 October 1961) is an English former professional footballer and manager. Playing as a defender, Laws made over 100 appearances for each of Burnley, Middlesbrough, and Nottingham Forest. In 1994, Laws became player-manager of ...

made Crossley his first signing in November 2006, bringing him in on loan. Crossley impressed, with a string of fine performances and the loan deal was extended to the end of the season. On 23 December 2006, Crossley scored a dramatic late equaliser for Sheffield Wednesday in a 3–3 draw with

at Hillsborough, in his 481st career match, after coming up for a late corner. However

Iain Turner Iain Ross Turner (born 26 January 1984) is a Scottish former professional footballer, who played as a goalkeeper and who works as goalkeeping coach at Tranmere Rovers. He represented the Scotland under-21 team, the Scotland B team and been sel ...

was brought in on loan and Crossley returned to Fulham.

Oldham Athletic

After being released by Fulham at the end of the 2006–07 season, Crossley signed for

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

side

. He also took a coaching role at the club. He played most of the games available, despite being injured for 6 games in March. Crossley signed a one-year extension to his current contract, he was contracted at Latics until the end of the 2008–09 season. After the final game of the season, the club reported that he and an assistant coach had parted with the club.

Coaching career

In the summer of 2009 he joined

as part of John Sheridan's new coaching team, as well as signing playing terms making him the club's second choice goalkeeper. In February 2011 Crossley announced he would be retiring from football at the end of the 2010–11 season. In July 2012 Crossley was approached by

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

to become the club's new goalkeeping coach for the 2012–13 season, however the move fell through when Chesterfield could not agree on a compensation fee. Following John Sheridan's dismissal from Chesterfield, Crossley was appointed caretaker manager alongside Tommy Wright. In September 2012, despite having retired from playing in 2011, Crossley was named as an unused substitute in Chesterfield's 2–2 draw at

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 ...

, taking the number 26 shirt. He left Chesterfield on 29 April 2013. On 13 August 2013, Crossley joined

as the Owls' academy goalkeeper coach. Crossley joined

on 27 March 2014 as a replacement to Ian Wilcox as new goalkeeping coach. Prior to the 2015–16 season, Crossley rejoined Chesterfield as a coach. On 21 June 2019, Crossley left the

first-team coaching set-up. On 2 July 2019, Crossley rejoined

as goalkeeper coach.

International career

Crossley qualified to play for Wales through a Welsh grandparent. He was a regular in the Welsh international squad, but served as understudy to

Neville Southall Neville Southall (born 16 September 1958) is a Welsh former international footballer. He has been described as one of the best goalkeepers of his generation and won the FWA Footballer of the Year award in 1985. He joined Bury from Winsford ...

, and then Paul Jones. He started only eight games. His full international début came against the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

. His most memorable moment with the national team was

' 4–0 win over

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. Prior to representing Wales, Crossley played for the

team in a tournament in

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

, France, in 1990.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Crossley, Mark 1969 births Living people Footballers from Barnsley English footballers England under-21 international footballers Welsh footballers Wales international footballers Association football goalkeepers Manchester United F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Fulham F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. non-playing staff Premier League players English Football League players Chesterfield F.C. managers Barnsley F.C. non-playing staff English football managers FA Cup Final players Association football goalkeeping coaches Association football coaches