Mark Anthony Smalley (born 2 January 1965) is an English former 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 made 167 appearances in the Football League playing for

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

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 ...

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 profession ...

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...

and Maidstone United. He played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Career

Smalley was born in

Newark-on-Trent Newark-on-Trent or Newark () is a market town and civil parish in the Newark and Sherwood district in Nottinghamshire, England. It is on the River Trent, and was historically a major inland port. The A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road bypasses th ...

, Nottinghamshire. When he left school in 1981, he joined

as an apprentice, and turned professional two years later. He made his debut in the First Division on 19 March 1983, coming on as substitute for Kenny Swain in a 2–0 defeat away at

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 ...

. Smalley played five times altogether for Forest's first team: one substitute appearance in the league in the 1983–84 season, and three games in September 1984 deputising for

Paul Hart Paul Anthony Hart (born 4 May 1953) is an English football manager, coach, and former professional player who made 567 appearances in the Football League as a defender. The son of Johnny Hart, who played for and managed Manchester City, ...

, one in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

, one in the League, and the third in the

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 ...

in which he sustained a hip injury. He spent the last few weeks of the 1985–86 season on loan at First Division

, where his contribution was insufficient to prevent the team losing their last seven games, and spent the first part of the next season at Third Division club

. In February 1987 Smalley signed for Orient of the Fourth Division. After two-and-a-half seasons in which he played 64 league games, he joined

, initially on loan, making the deal permanent in January 1990 for a fee of £15,000. He played 49 league games before moving on to Maidstone United, for whom he played 34 games before the club was wound up at the end of the 1991–92 season. Smalley then moved into non-league football with Conference club Kettering Town, for whom he played 24 games in all competitions, Ilkeston Town and

Hucknall Town Hucknall Town Football Club are a football club based in the town of Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, England. The club are members of the and play at Watnall Road. History Hucknall Town were renamed from Hucknall Colliery Welfare in 1987 and for ...

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smalley, Mark 1965 births Living people Sportspeople from Newark-on-Trent Footballers from Nottinghamshire English footballers Association football defenders Nottingham Forest F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Maidstone United F.C. (1897) players Kettering Town F.C. players Ilkeston Town F.C. (1945) players Hucknall Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Counties East Football League players