Mark John Ovendale (22 November 1973 – 29 August 2011) was an English

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 ...

goalkeeper.

Playing career

Ovendale was born in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, 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 l ...

and began his career with local village team Leverington before joining

Wisbech Town Wisbech Town Football Club is a football club based near Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, England. The club are currently members of the and play at the Fenland Stadium. History Although a Wisbech Town existed in the 1890s, the current club was estab ...

. He moved to

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

, playing six league games in the 1994–95 season. He joined Welsh champions Barry Town in August 1997 and after a successful first season, joined

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

for a fee of £30,000 in July 1998. He quickly became the first choice in the Bournemouth goal, making his Cherries' debut on the opening day of the 1998–99 season, a 2–0 win at home to Lincoln City. He remained a regular over the next two seasons before a £425,000 move took him to

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

in August 2000. Luton manager

Ricky Hill Ricky Hill (born 5 March 1959) is an English former footballer, spending most of his playing career at Luton Town FC for 14 years, while representing England at Senior, U21 and U18 International levels. Hill was the fourth Black player to play ...

installed Ovendale as his first choice goalkeeper, but he struggled to make an impact and spent the season in and out of the side, with former first choice

Nathan Abbey Nathanael "Nathan" Abbey (born 11 July 1978) is an English journeyman former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Career Luton Town Nathanael Abbey was born on 11 July 1978 in Islington, London, and began his football career as ...

replacing him on a number of occasions. With Abbey released and Luton relegated at the end of the season, Ovendale found himself as second choice goalkeeper, following the signing of

Carl Emberson Carl Wayne Emberson (born 13 July 1973 in Epsom, Surrey) is an English retired football goalkeeper. Career He played in the 1990–91 Final of the FA Youth Cup with Millwall, but only ever managed to make 1 Senior first-team appearance for t ...

. He appeared only sporadically over the next two seasons and was released in 2003. In late July that year he re-signed for Barry Town, but just two weeks later joined

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 ...

. York were relegated to the

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

at the end of the season, and Ovendale was one of a number of players released. He signed for non-league

Tiverton Town Tiverton Town Football Club are an English football club based in Tiverton, Devon. The club are currently members of the and play at Ladysmead. History The club was established in 1913 as Tiverton Athletic, and initially played at the Athle ...

in the summer of 2004, where he remained until May 2006 when he joined Welsh side

Carmarthen Town Carmarthen Town Association Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Tref Caerfyrddin) is a Welsh semi-professional football club based in Carmarthen. The team play their home games at Richmond Park. The club colours, reflected in their crest and kit ...

. He played for Carmarthen in the

Inter-Toto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...

against Finnish side

Tampere United Tampere United is a Finnish football club from the city of Tampere. The club plays in Kakkonen, the third highest level of football in Finland. The club had a team in Veikkausliiga, the premier football league in Finland, until the end of the ...

, but left in July 2006 to join Newport County, signing as a replacement for the injured

Tony Pennock Anthony Pennock (born 10 April 1971 in Swansea) is a Welsh football coach and former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is currently manager of Cymru Premier side Haverfordwest County. Personal life Pennock has a son, Alex ...

. He was forced to retire from playing in June 2007 due to a hip injury.

Coaching career

Mark joined Wimborne Town in a coaching role in August 2008 but made a few appearances in goal for the club during the 2008–09 season.

Death

He died in August 2011 from cancer. Days after Ovendale's death, his old club Barry Town honoured him into the Barry Town Hall of Fame and a memorial match was held at the Newport Stadium.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ovendale, Mark 1973 births 2011 deaths Footballers from Leicester English footballers Northampton Town F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Luton Town F.C. players Tiverton Town F.C. players York City F.C. players Carmarthen Town A.F.C. players Newport County A.F.C. players English Football League players Cymru Premier players Barry Town United F.C. players Association football goalkeepers Wimborne Town F.C. players Wisbech Town F.C. players