Mark Joseph Gillespie (born 27 March 1992) 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 ...

who plays as 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 ...

for

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

club Newcastle United.

Club career

Early career

Gillespie was part of the academy setup at Newcastle United before moving to Carlisle United in 2008, at the age of 16. He started at Carlisle as a youth team player before graduating to the reserve team.

Carlisle United

On 20 February 2010, Gillespie was named as a substitute for Carlisle's

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 ...

match against

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

due to an injury suffered by

Lenny Pidgeley Leonard James Pidgeley (born 7 February 1984) is an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Career Pidgeley was born in Twickenham, London. He initially signed up with Chelsea at the opening of the 2002–03 season, and was loan ...

. He was on the bench for a further seven games before Pidgeley returned for the 2010

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 ...

final on 28 March 2010. On 8 May 2010, the final day of the 2009–10 season, Gillespie made his professional debut in a win against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

at Carrow Road after coming on as a late substitute. Gillespie therefore became the youngest keeper ever to represent Carlisle, at 18 years and 42 days, beating the previous record set by

Tony Caig Antony Caig (born 11 April 1974) is an English football coach and former player, who played as a goalkeeper. He is currently the Head of Academy Goalkeeping for Premier League Club Newcastle United. Playing career Caig made his name playing ...

. In the 2010–11 season, Gillespie joined

Blyth Spartans Blyth Spartans Association Football Club is a football club based in Blyth, Northumberland. They are currently members of and play at Croft Park. They were founded in September 1899 by Fred Stoker, who was the club's first secretary before fo ...

, then in the

Conference 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 Syst ...

, on a month-long loan. He made his first start against Eastwood Town on 16 October 2010, keeping a clean sheet. His loan was extended for a further two months before he returned to Carlisle. He made no appearances for Carlisle in either of the 2010–11 or 2011–12 seasons. Gillespie made his first start for Carlisle in Carlisle's

tie against Preston North End on 4 September 2012. This ended a run of 146 consecutive starts for

Adam Collin Adam James Collin (born 9 December 1984) is an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Career Early career Born in Penrith, Cumbria, Collin started his career as a professional footballer with Newcastle United as a youngster. H ...

. Gillespie retained his place in the team the following Saturday, in a league fixture against

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded i ...

, after Carlisle manager

Greg Abbott Gregory Wayne Abbott (born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and former jurist serving as the 48th governor of Texas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 50th attorney general of Texas from 2002 ...

said that Gillespie and Collin were competing against each other for the goalkeeping position. Gillespie was praised by Tottenham Hotspur boss

André Villas-Boas Luís André de Pina Cabral e Villas-Boas (; born 17 October 1977) is a Portuguese football manager, who most recently was the manager of Ligue 1 club Marseille. He is one of a growing number of top-level managers who have never played football ...

and veteran keeper

Carlo Cudicini Carlo Cudicini (; born 6 September 1973) is a retired Italian footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is the son of the former Milan goalkeeper Fabio Cudicini, and the grandson of Ponziana defender Guglielmo Cudicini. Cudicini is currently a ...

after Carlisle slipped to a 3–0 defeat in a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

tie on 26 September. The praise was earned after Gillespie pulled off a string of fine saves to keep United in the match early on. Gillespie lost his place in the first team at the start of November 2012, after playing 13 consecutive games in two months, during which he conceded 23 goals and kept only one clean sheet (in a game against

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

on 18 September 2012). He regained his place in the team one and a half months later in a 2–1 loss at

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

and retained it to make 37 appearances for the season. During the season, he extended his contract until the end of the 2014–15 season, while at the season's end, Collin departed the club for

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

. Gillespie's 2013–14 season was curtailed by a knee injury suffered 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 ...

tie against

Boreham Wood Borehamwood (, historically also Boreham Wood) is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, from Charing Cross. Borehamwood has a population of 31,074, and is within the London commuter belt. The town's film and TV studios are commonly known ...

in November. He made no further appearances for Carlisle during the season, as the club was relegated to

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

. Gillespie turned down a new contract from Carlisle on 7 June 2017, instead moving on to Walsall in League One.

Walsall

On 23 June 2017, Gillespie joined

side

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

on a two-year contract.

Motherwell

On 5 June 2018, Gillespie signed for Scottish Premiership club Motherwell on a two-year deal. He made his debut on 17 July 2018, in a

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

group stage match at home to Edinburgh City, but was backup to

Trevor Carson Trevor Carson (born 5 March 1988) is a Northern Irish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Scottish Premiership club Dundee. Born in Killyleagh, Northern Ireland, Carson started his youth career with Killyleagh Boys before movin ...

in league matches until November 2018 when Carson was ruled out with

deep vein thrombosis Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a type of venous thrombosis involving the formation of a blood clot in a deep vein, most commonly in the legs or pelvis. A minority of DVTs occur in the arms. Symptoms can include pain, swelling, redness, and enla ...

. During the season Gillespie saved a penalty on four occasions; at home against Celtic, two in matches against St Johnstone, and at home to Livingston in the final game of the season. On 31 May 2020, Motherwell announced that Gillespie (who had been ever-present that season) would be leaving the club after his contract expired.

Newcastle United

On 3 July 2020, Newcastle United announced the signing of Gillespie on a three-year contract, returning to the club after twelve years.

Career statistics

Honours

Newcastle United * EFL Cup runner-up: 2022–23

References

External links

Mark Gillespie player profile
at carlisleunited.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Gillespie, Mark 1992 births Living people Footballers from Newcastle upon Tyne English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Carlisle United F.C. players Blyth Spartans A.F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Scottish Professional Football League players