Mark Gleeson (born 16 July 1982) is a former English professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. He was contracted to Halifax until the end of the National League One 2008 season. Mark Gleeson was born in

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

, England, and like his brother Martin, he spent seven years of his junior career in Australia after emigrating with his family aged 8, and later signed for the

Warrington Wolves The Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England, that competes in the Super League. They play rugby at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2004. Founded as Warrington Z ...

Academy, featuring in their 1999 under-19 Grand Final team against

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club was formed in 1870 as Leeds St John's and play in the Super League, the top tier of English rugby league. They have played home matches at Headi ...

, he briefly returned to Australia to play in Cairns, Queensland. Gleeson won Sky's

Man of the Match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

award on full début against champions the Bradford Bulls in 2001. Gleeson re-signed for the Warrington Wolves when Paul Cullen took over as coach in time for the 2003's

Super League VIII Tetley's Super League VIII was the official name for the year 2003's Super League championship season, the 109th season of top-level professional rugby league held in Britain, and the eighth championship run by Super League. The season culminat ...

. He made his England début against France at Headingley in 2005. In July 2008, Mark was released from his contract at the

, and opted to sign for National League One side Halifax, after his contract with the

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England, who play in the Championship (rugby league), Championship. Featherstone is a former coal mining town with a population of around 16,000 and Rover ...

fell through. Mark was unveiled as Halifax's new signing during halftime in their match against the

Leigh Centurions The Leigh Leopards are a professional rugby league club based in Leigh, Greater Manchester, England, who compete in the Betfred Super League. The club was founded in 1878, and is one of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern R ...

which was shown live on Sky Sports. On 14 August 2008, one month after Gleeson signed for Halifax, he signed a new and improved contract until the end of the 2009 season.

Genealogical information

Mark Gleeson is the younger brother of the rugby league footballer;

Martin Gleeson Martin Gleeson (born 25 May 1980) is the assistant attack coach at the rugby union club; Wasps RFC. He is the former assistant coach at the rugby league club Salford Red Devils in the Super League, and an English former professional rugby lea ...

, and the cousin of the rugby league footballer; Sean Gleeson.

References

External links

Mark Gleeson leaves
*(archived by web.archive.org

1982 births Living people Barrow Raiders players English rugby league players Halifax R.L.F.C. players Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Wigan Warrington Wolves players {{England-rugbyleague-bio-stub