Mark Sunley (born 13 October 1971) is a former

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 le ...

who made 37 appearances in

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 ...

playing as a centre back for

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

and

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

. He was on the books of

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 ...

and Millwall, without playing for either in the League, and played

non-league football 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 ...

for clubs including Halifax Town,

Stalybridge Celtic Stalybridge Celtic Football Club is an English football club based in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. They are currently members of the and play at Bower Fold. The team traditionally plays in a blue and white strip. In 1921 Stalybridge Celtic ...

Spennymoor United Spennymoor United Association Football Club was an association football club based in Spennymoor, County Durham, England. History Spennymoor United Association Football Club was formed in 1904 as an amalgamation of Spennymoor Town and Weardale ...

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

Guisborough Town Guisborough Town Football Club is a football club based in Guisborough, North Yorkshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at the King George V Ground. History The club was established in 1973 and joined the Middlesbrough & D ...

and Billingham Synthonia.

Life and career

Sunley was born in

Guisborough Guisborough ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland, North Yorkshire, England. It lies north of the North York Moors National Park. Roseberry Topping, midway between the town and Great Ayton, is a landmark i ...

, Yorkshire, where he attended

Laurence Jackson School Laurence Jackson School is a coeducational secondary school located in Guisborough, North Yorkshire, England. It has a capacity of 1,250 pupils. The school's headteacher is Catherine Juckes. A 2019 Ofsted inspection judged Laurence Jackson Scho ...

. As a youngster, he played for Hartburn Juniors in Stockton, from where he joined

's youth system. On leaving school he was taken on the club's YTS scheme and then given a professional contract by manager Bruce Rioch. He played for the club in the 1990 FA Youth Cup final, a 3–2 defeat over

two legs In sports (particularly association football), a two-legged tie is a contest between two teams which comprises two matches or "legs", with each team as the home team in one leg. The winning team is usually determined by aggregate score, the sum ...

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

, but never broke through to the first team. When Colin Todd took over as Middlesbrough manager, Sunley followed Rioch to Millwall in 1991, but again never played first-team football. He finally made his

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 ...

debut with

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

club

in the 1991–92 season, and went on to make 35 league appearances over three seasons. In the 1994–95 season, he played eight times for Halifax Town in 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 ...

, twice for

also in the Conference, and twice in the Third Division (fourth tier) for

, and then joined

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

club

. Sunley made five substitute appearances for

in the Northern Premier League in 2000–01, and played rather more frequently in the following season. In August 2002, he was told he was free to leave, and signed for hometown club

of the

Northern League Northern League may refer to: Sport Baseball * Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971 * Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...

. He spent most of that season playing regularly for Guisborough, returning to Gateshead for three matches at the end – the second leg of the

Northern Premier League Challenge Cup The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Division ...

against

Marine Marine is an adjective meaning of or pertaining to the sea or ocean. Marine or marines may refer to: Ocean * Maritime (disambiguation) * Marine art * Marine biology * Marine debris * Marine habitats * Marine life * Marine pollution Military * ...

, one league match, and the play-off semi-final defeat to

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came pr ...

– and resumed his Guisborough career in 2003–04. He spent the 2005–06 season with another Northern League club, Billingham Synthonia. Outside football, Sunley worked as sports development officer at his former school, Laurence Jackson in Guisborough. Among his duties was coaching girls' football. In 2013, the school's team reached the final of the

English Schools' Football Association The English Schools' Football Association was founded in 1904 and is the governing body of schools' football in England. It is responsible for the running and development of schools competitions and festivals at primary and secondary school age ...

under-16 competition, losing 3–2 to the holders.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sunley, Mark 1971 births Living people People from Guisborough English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Middlesbrough F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players Stalybridge Celtic F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Spennymoor United A.F.C. players Gateshead F.C. players Guisborough Town F.C. players Billingham Synthonia F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players Northern Football League players Footballers from Yorkshire