Mark Stuart Grew (born 15 February 1958) is an English former
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
player and coach who played 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 ...
.
His career started in 1976 with
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 ...
, where he spent seven seasons as a back-up keeper before moving on to
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
. After just a year with the "Foxes" he moved on to
Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...
. In 1986, he signed for
Port Vale
Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...
, where he became the first choice goalkeeper. He spent six years at
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, ...
, making almost 200 the
Football League
The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...
appearances, twice winning the club's
Player of the Year
Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award.
Association football
In association football, this award is he ...
award and playing in the
1989
File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...
Third Division play-off victory. He transferred to
Cardiff City
Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...
in 1992, and won the Third Division title with the club in
1992–93, and also picked up two
Welsh Cup
The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most ...
winners medals. His final club was
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. , whom he signed for in 1994, and left in 1995. Over the years he also enjoyed short loan spells with
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, ...
,
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 ...
,
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 ...
, and
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 ...
.
He remained in the game after retirement as a player, spending eight years as a coach at Port Vale before his sacking in 2002. He quickly returned to his coaching position at the club though, and remains a key member of the backroom staff. He has had three separate spells as caretaker-manager at the club.
Playing career
Early career
Grew grew up in
Bilston
Bilston is a market town, ward, and civil parish located in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. It is close to the borders of Sandwell and Walsall. The nearest towns are Darlaston, Wednesbury, and Willenhall. Historically in Staffordshi ...
, where he attended the goalkeeping academy ran by legendary
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 ...
goalkeeper
Bert Williams
Bert Williams (November 12, 1874 – March 4, 1922) was a Bahamian-born American entertainer, one of the pre-eminent entertainers of the Vaudeville era and one of the most popular comedians for all audiences of his time. He is credited as being ...
after accepting that he "was probably too fat and lazy to play outfield".
He turned professional at
First Division club
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 ...
in the
1976–77 season, having just starred in the 1976
FA Youth Cup
The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...
final, which ended in a 5–0 aggregate victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
During the
1978–79 campaigned he was loaned out to
Fourth Division
Fourth or the fourth may refer to:
* the ordinal form of the number 4
* ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971
* Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision
* Fourth (music), a musical interval
* ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...
newcomers
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, ...
, where he played four league games in the absence of
John Brown John Brown most often refers to:
*John Brown (abolitionist) (1800–1859), American who led an anti-slavery raid in Harpers Ferry, Virginia in 1859
John Brown or Johnny Brown may also refer to:
Academia
* John Brown (educator) (1763–1842), Ir ...
. He returned to
The Hawthorns
The Hawthorns is an all-seater association football, football stadium in West Bromwich, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 26,688. It has been the home of EFL Championship, Championship club West Bromwich Albion F ...
, and played 33 league games for the "Baggies" as he faced competition from
Tony Godden
Anthony Leonard Godden (born 2 August 1955) is an English former footballer who played as a goalkeeper in the Football League for West Bromwich Albion, Luton Town, Walsall, Chelsea, Birmingham City, Bury and Peterborough United.
Career
God ...
, before he joined
Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
, also of the First Division, for a £60,000 fee.
He played five top-flight games for
Gordon Milne
Gordon Milne (born 29 March 1937) is an English former association football, football player and manager.
Personal life
Gordon Milne was born in Preston, Lancashire, England and is the son of the Scottish former Preston player Jimmy Milne (foot ...
's "Foxes" in the absence of
Mark Wallington during the
1983–84 season.
He also played five
Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
games on loan at
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 ...
, before he moved to First Division club
Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...
on a £60,000 transfer in March 1984.
He spent two seasons with the "Tractor Boys", but played just six league games. He also played four Second Division games on loan at
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 ...
in 1985, and returned to West Brom on loan in 1986 to play one game.
Port Vale
In June 1986, he joined
Third Division Port Vale
Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...
; aged 28 years old, he was looking for first team football. His debut for the club came in a 2–2 draw against
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 ...
at
Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to:
Places Australia
* Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales
* Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse
* Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...
, who were at the time
close to folding. After he sustained an injury in the game, he suffered from damaged
knee ligaments for much of the
1986–87 season.
However
Alex Williams retired from back injury in September 1987. As Grew took the #1 jersey he never looked back and played fifty games in
1987–88.
Grew was then voted the club's
Player of the Year
Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award.
Association football
In association football, this award is he ...
for his performances over his 49 games in
1988–89.
He played both legs of Vale's
play-off Final victory over
Bristol Rovers
Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...
, conceding just the one goal. He played 51 games in
1989–90, as Vale retained their Second Division status.
However, he lost his place to
Trevor Wood
Trevor John Wood (born 3 November 1968) is a former Northern Ireland international football goalkeeper. He played 130 league games in the English Football League, 100 league games in the League of Ireland, and won one cap for Northern Ireland i ...
in August 1990. In October, he went on to enjoy a successful two-month loan spell with league rivals
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 ...
, who had
Terry Gennoe
Terence William Gennoe (born 16 March 1953) is an English former professional footballer who made more than 400 appearances in the Football League playing as a goalkeeper for Bury, Halifax Town, Southampton and on loan at Crystal Palace, before ...
injured and
Darren Collier out of form, playing thirteen league games. He won his first team spot back at Vale in February 1991, and played fourteen games for the "Valiants" in
1990–91. He became the club's Player of the Year once more in 1992 for his ever-presence in the 53 game
1991–92 season.
[ However, he left on a free transfer for ]Cardiff City
Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...
in May 1992.
Later career
He was between the posts for Cardiff City when they beat Manchester City
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 Salford to the west. The tw ...
1–0 in the 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 ...
Fourth Round
Fourth or the fourth may refer to:
* the ordinal form of the number 4
* ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971
* Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision
* Fourth (music), a musical interval
* ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...
on 29 January 1994. He became an "instant hero" with the Cardiff supporters after saving a 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)
* Penalty ...
from Keith Curle
Keith Curle (born 14 November 1963) is an English football manager and former professional player, who is the current manager of League Two side Hartlepool United.
He played as a centre back from 1981 to 2005, notably in the Premier League for ...
. He joined non-League
Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...
side 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 1994 after leaving Cardiff and made one appearance during the 1994–95 season.
Style of play
He was a shot-stopping goalkeeper, who mostly remained on his line and relied on his defenders to deal with crosses.
Coaching career
Grew was appointed the Port Vale
Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...
youth coach in December 1994 and stayed with the club for the next eight years. He was appointed assistant manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities o ...
under Brian Horton
Brian "Nobby" Horton (born 4 February 1949) is an English former footballer and manager. He spent 16 years as a professional player and 22 years as a manager, making 689 appearances and managing 1,098 matches. In addition to this he spent four ...
in 1999, until he was sacked in December 2002 by the club's administrators. In March 2003 he was appointed as assistant manager at 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 ...
, until he returned to Port Vale in a coaching capacity for the youth-team, after the club was taken over by Valiant 2001. Following a capitulation to Leyton Orient
Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...
at Brisbane Road
Brisbane Road, originally known as Osborne Road, is a football stadium in Brisbane Road, Leyton, East London, England. It has been the home ground of Leyton Orient since 1937, before which it was the home of amateur football team Leyton F.C., w ...
on 20 October 2007, Grew gave a memorable post-match interview, saying that the team was "gutless... spineless... the worst bunch of players I have seen at 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, ...
in 17 years". On 8 October 2008, Grew rejected the opportunity to become assistant to recently appointed Port Vale manager Dean Glover
Dean Victor Glover (born 29 December 1963) is an English former football player and manager. A cultured and stylish defender, he had the ball control skills of a midfielder. He played 457 league games in a seventeen-year career in the English ...
.
In December 2010, he was made joint caretaker manager
In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular Manager (association football), manager is dismissed or leaves for a ...
at Vale, along with Geoff Horsfield
Geoffrey Malcolm Horsfield (born 1 November 1973) is an English former professional footballer and football coach. He made more than 300 appearances in the Football League playing as a striker.
He was a "strong and forceful" player, able to h ...
, following the departure of Micky Adams
Michael Richard Adams (born 8 November 1961) is an English former professional association football, footballer and football manager. As a player, he was a Full-back (football), full back, and made a total of 438 league appearances in a ninete ...
. Vale were hammered 5–0 by 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 ...
in his first game in charge, but rallied to beat Burton Albion
Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home groun ...
2–1, before Jim Gannon
James Paul Gannon (born 7 September 1968) is a professional football manager and former player who most recently was manager of Hyde United. He started and finished his career as a player in Ireland, but made most of his professional appearan ...
was appointed manager. During Adams' reign Grew had doubled up as a first team coach, but when Gannon arrived at the club Grew chose to focus solely on his role as youth team coach. Following Gannon's swift departure in March 2011, Grew was elevated to the position of caretaker-manager for the third time in twelve years. Assisted by Horsfield, Marc Richards
Marc John Richards (born 8 July 1982) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker and is now, upon retiring, a first-team coach at Northampton Town.
A youth team player at Hednesford Town, he turned professional at Blac ...
told the press that "it's absolutely brilliant that Grewy and Geoff are in charge again". After his first match back in charge ended in a 1–1 draw, Grew stated that if offered the job first time he would "seriously consider it". Defeat to bottom club Stockport County
Stockport County Football Club are a professional association football, football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they wer ...
all but ended the club's promotion campaign, as well as Grew's hopes of a permanent appointment. He slammed both his players and the directors, claiming that "I was never in the picture to become the next manager".
Upon Adams' return as manager he reshuffled the club's coaching set-up, and in July 2011 Grew was made assistant manager. In July 2014 his role changed to that of goalkeeping coach and scout
Scout may refer to:
Youth movement
*Scout (Scouting), a child, usually 10–18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement
**Scouts (The Scout Association), section for 10-14 year olds in the United Kingdom
**Scouts BSA, sectio ...
ing co-ordinator. He left the club in May 2015 as part of new manager's Rob Page
Robert John Page (born 3 September 1974) is a Welsh football manager and former player, who is currently the manager of the Wales national team. In an 18-year career in the Premier League and the English Football League, he made 550 competitive ...
's reshuffle of his backroom staff, and decided to take time out of football to undergo a back operation.[ He left the club following his testimonial game to honour his 25 years of service to the club.
]
Personal life
Grew's daughter, Melissa (born 1992), is a model.
Career statistics
Managerial statistics
Honours
as a player
Individual
*Port Vale F.C. Player of the Year
The Port Vale Player of the Year award is voted for annually by Port Vale's supporters in recognition of the best overall performance by an individual player throughout the football season. Towards the end of each season, fans are invited t ...
: 1989
File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...
& 1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
West Bromwich Albion
*FA Youth Cup
The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...
: 1976
Port Vale
*Football League Third Division
The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the f ...
play-offs: 1989
File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...
Cardiff City
*Football League Third Division
The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the f ...
: 1992–93
*Welsh Cup
The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most ...
: 1992, 1993; runner-up: 1994
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grew, Mark
1958 births
Living people
People from Bilston
Association football goalkeepers
English footballers
West Bromwich Albion F.C. players
Wigan Athletic F.C. players
Notts County F.C. players
Leicester City F.C. players
Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players
Derby County F.C. players
Ipswich Town F.C. players
Fulham F.C. players
Port Vale F.C. players
Blackburn Rovers F.C. players
Cardiff City F.C. players
Hednesford Town F.C. players
English Football League players
Southern Football League players
English football managers
Port Vale F.C. managers
English Football League managers
Association football coaches
Association football goalkeeping coaches
Association football scouts
Port Vale F.C. non-playing staff