Mark James Danks (born 8 February 1984) is an English

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 ...

currently with Telford Town He had previous professional experience with

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

in the 2002–03 season and won the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

with

Hednesford Town Hednesford Town Football Club is a football club based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Keys Park. History The club was established in 1880 as a merger of the Red & Whites and Hill Top.

in the 2003–04 season and also won the Conference League Cup with

A.F.C. Telford United AFC Telford United is a football club based in Telford, Shropshire, England. The club was formed in 2004 after the original Telford United, founded in 1872, folded due to financial problems. Currently members of the National League North, the ...

in the 2008–09 season.

Career

Football League

Danks began his career at

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 ...

, where he played for England U15 and U16, before joining

for a season in August 2002. Although restricted to four substitute appearances he scored his first goal in senior football in an

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 ...

match against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

, which Bradford lost 3–1.

Non-League career

He went to Halesowen Town of the

Southern League Premier Division The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English foot ...

on a month loan in March 2003 where he scored on his debut at Ilkeston Town. He was released by Bradford City at the end of the 2002–03 season. Danks joined

in July 2003 and went on to win the

with them in 2004. He joined

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 ...

club Forest Green Rovers in August 2004, where he did not have the best of times, going out on loan for a month to

Stafford Rangers Stafford Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional English football team from Stafford which plays in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. The team wear black and white stripes with black shorts. Stafford Rangers' rivals include T ...

in September 2004, on loan to

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...

in the Conference North in March 2005, on loan for two months to

Bromsgrove Rovers Bromsgrove Rovers F.C. was a non-League football club from the town of Bromsgrove in Worcestershire. The peak of the club's success was in 1993 when Rovers finished runner-up in the Football Conference. They went into administration during the ...

in September 2005 and on loan for a month to

Cirencester Town Cirencester Town Football Club is a football club based in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England. Affiliated to the Gloucestershire County FA, the club are currently members of the and play at the Corinium Stadium. History The club was establ ...

in December 2005. He joined Worcester City on a non-contract basis and then signed a contract until the end of the 2007–08 season in March 2006. In May 2008, Danks joined Halesowen Town. In February 2009, Danks joined Conference North side Telford United on a contract until the end of the season. He scored a penalty in the Conference League Cup final against his former club, Forest Green, as Telford won the final 3–0 on penalties. In June 2010 Danks re-signed for Conference North club

Worcester City Worcester City Football Club is an English football club based in Worcester, Worcestershire. The club play in the Midland Football League, the ninth tier of English football. Established in 1902, the club play at Claines Lane. Worcester City's ...

from

Northwich Victoria {{Infobox UK place , static_image_name = Northwich - Town Bridge.jpg , static_image_caption = Town Bridge, the River Weaver and the spire of Holy Trinity Church , official_name = Northwich , country ...

. On 18 June 2011 Danks rejoined Hednesford Town for the 2011–12 season. In January 2012 he joined Stourbridge on a non-contract basis, then Airbus UK Broughton later that month. During the summer of 2012 he moved to

Redditch United Redditch United Football Club is an English football club based in Redditch, Worcestershire. The club participates in the and play their home games at the V Trico Stadium. They are managed by former Captain and Assistant Manager Matt Clarke. ...

, being released in October, followed by an even shorter spell with Evesham United until November 2012. Also in November 2012 he joined

Sutton Coldfield Town Sutton Coldfield Town Football Club is an English association football club based in Sutton Coldfield. The club participates in the . Despite being the largest team in a town with a population of over 105,000 people (more than that of the home ...

, scoring four times on his debut for Sutton Coldfield in a Doodson Sports Cup game against

Loughborough Dynamo Loughborough Dynamo Football Club is a football club based in Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Nanpantan Sports Ground. History The club was established in 1955 by pupils from Loughborou ...

, and then scored the winning goal on his league debut on 1 December 2012 against Carlton Town. In March 2014, he joined Halesowen Town, extending the deal in May 2014 to be committed for the 2014–15 campaign. However, following a preseason game between Tamworth and Rushall Olympic on 2 August 2014, he signed for the latter. Following appearances for AFC Bridgnorth, Lye Town, and

for the third time, all during the autumn of 2014, and finally joined Chasetown in December 2014. In February 2015, he switched back to

for the remainder of the season, although he has a loan spell at Boldmere St. Michaels in March 2015. In May 2015, he agreed terms with The Royals to stay on for another season. Only weeks into the 2015–16 season he moved to Tividale of the

Northern Premier League Division One South The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

. He left in February 2016 to join

Romulus Romulus () was the legendary foundation of Rome, founder and King of Rome, first king of Ancient Rome, Rome. Various traditions attribute the establishment of many of Rome's oldest legal, political, religious, and social institutions to Romulus ...

, and in October 2016 he rejoined Lye Town. He returned to Worcester City once more in July 2017, after a pre-season stint with Midland League Premier Division rivals Boldmere St. Michaels. In February 2018, he joined Worcester Raiders of the West Midlands (Regional) League Division One on dual registration terms, in order to gain match fitness. They reside in the 11th tier of the English football pyramid. In June 2018, City manager John Snape revealed that Danks had turned down an offer to commit himself to them for the upcoming season, and instead moved to Black Country Rangers of West Midlands (Regional) League Premier Division. He eventually opted out of the deal to take the role as a player-assistant manager at City's league rivals Stourport Swifts. In February 2024 Danks joined West Midlands Regional League side Telford Town.

Honours

Club

;Hednesford Town *

: 2003-04 ;AFC Telford United * Conference League Cup: 2008–09

Individual

2009–10 FA Cup The 2009–10 FA Cup (known as The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON for sponsorship reasons) was the 129th season of the world's oldest football knockout competition; the FA Cup. As in the previous year, 762 clubs were accepted for the competition. One c ...

Player of the Round: First Qualifying Round