Michael Edward Gash (born 3 September 1986) is an English
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 plays for
Southern League Pemier Central side
Peterborough Sports, where he plays as a
striker.
Gash's nomadic career has seen him play primarily in the
Football Conference
The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...
, though he finally made the step up to the
Football League with
Barnet
Barnet may refer to:
People
*Barnet (surname)
* Barnet (given name)
Places United Kingdom
*Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below.
*East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...
in 2015.
Club career
Gash was born in
Rinteln
Rinteln () is a small town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located on the banks of the Weser river above the Porta Westfalica. The town of Rinteln is in the broad valley between the hills of the Weserbergland and the North Lippe Bergland. In rela ...
, Germany as his father was stationed there as a head teacher in the British Army. Gash began his career in the
youth system
In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if t ...
of
Cambridge City, making his
first-team debut on 7 October 2003 when starting and scoring in a 12–0 home win over Waterbeach in the
Cambridgeshire Invitation Cup
The Cambridgeshire Invitation Cup is the senior county cup competition of the Cambridgeshire County Football Association. Established in 1950,Blakeman, M (2010) ''The Official History of the Eastern Counties Football League 1935–2010, Volume I ...
. Upon establishing himself in the first team, a one-in-three strike rate in the 2005–06 season saw him join city rivals
Cambridge United
Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...
for 2006–07.
[Player profile: Michael Gash](_blank)
/ref>
In September 2006, Gash was loaned back to the Lilywhites, having failed to hold down a first-team spot. After one season with the U's, in which he scored only two goals, Gash re-joined City on a permanent basis in July 2007. The 2007–08 season saw Gash flourish in the Conference South, scoring 27 goals in all competitions. City's demotion to the Southern League hastened his departure from the Lilywhites, and he was sold to Ebbsfleet United
Ebbsfleet United Football Club is a professional football club based in Northfleet, Kent, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the club competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football.
The club was formed in 1946 fr ...
in August 2008 in a deal worth £20k plus a sell-on fee.
Gash's second crack at the top division of non-league football was more successful, as he scored 11 times across the course of the season, which again saw him attract transfer interest. In July 2009, MyFootballClub
MyFootballClub is an Football in England, English Industrial and Provident Society that sought, starting in August 2007, to recruit at least 50,000 Association football, football enthusiasts from across the world to purchase an English football ...
members voted (94.2% for, 5.8% against) to sell Gash to an unnamed bidder in a deal worth £55,000, this bidder later turned out to be 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 ...
. The deal also included a 20% sell-on, 30% of which would go to Cambridge City, who received £7,000 from the sale to the Minstermen.
Gash's spell in Yorkshire proved to be disappointing, with only 8 goals in 63 games in all competitions, though he was called up to the England C
The England national football C team (previously known as the England National Game XI and the England Semi-Pro national team) is the football team that represents England at non-league level.
Formed in 1979 as the England Non-League team, it f ...
squad in September 2010. He was loaned to Rushden & Diamonds
Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town F.C., Ke ...
in December 2010, where he was far more successful, scoring six times in 19 games. In June 2011, Gash re-joined Cambridge United
Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...
on a free transfer. After an unspectacular 2011–12 season, in which he scored 7 goals in 42 games, Gash was loaned to Braintree Town in August 2012. Following his return from loan, Gash was far more prolific, scoring 15 times in 30 games, which attracted interest from other clubs in the league – a bid from an unnamed club was rejected in January 2013. He joined Kidderminster Harriers on loan in March 2013 for the rest of the season. Director of football Jez George
Jeremy "Jez" George (born 24 January 1970) is a former English football manager who was Chief Executive Officer for Cambridge United in the Football League Two. He was also a prominent figure in the Cambridge United Youth & Community Trust. He has ...
said, immediately following the loan agreement, that loaning out Gash was the best scenario financially for the U's, with Gash's salary demands scuppering chances of agreeing a new contract at the Abbey Stadium. Gash joined the Harriers permanently at the end of the season on a two-year deal after scoring six times in 11 games for Kiddy – taking his league tally for the season to 21 overall, making him the joint-second top scorer in the division. He scored 22 goals in 72 games for the U's.
Gash scored 15 goals in 42 games during his first full season as a Kidderminster player, including two goals in a 4–2 win over Newport County 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 ...
second round, which earned him the Player of the Round award from The Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...
, as well the opener in their away upset win over Peterborough United
Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...
in round three. The following season, Gash scored only three goals in 17 games between August and November and was loaned out to Nuneaton Town
Nuneaton Borough Football Club is an English football club that is based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The men's 1st team competes in the , the seventh tier of English football.
In 1889, Nuneaton St. Nicholas FC was the first team in Nuneaton to ...
with Harriers needing to reduce their wage bill. He scored only once in 11 games for the Boro, and following the expiry of his loan, left Kidderminster by mutual consent in January 2015.
Six days later, Gash joined Barnet
Barnet may refer to:
People
*Barnet (surname)
* Barnet (given name)
Places United Kingdom
*Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below.
*East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...
, despite manager Martin Allen
Martin James Allen (born 14 August 1965) is an English football manager and former player. He played more than 100 games as a midfielder for both Queens Park Rangers and West Ham United before finishing his playing career with Portsmouth and ...
stating that "He has got an attitude, there is no doubt about it, and I do not think it is always a good one... I told him straight exactly what his position would be – it would be sub." Less than a month later, following his performance in a home win over Woking, Allen then said that "He is a better player than I thought, to be honest. I always thought he was half decent but in training the last couple of weeks he has lost a lot of weight and improved his level of fitness. He is a tremendous character around the group and he is a good player."
Gash signed a new one-year deal at Barnet for the 2015–16 season. He made his Football League debut against 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 ...
on 8 August 2015. Following four goals in five games in September, Gash was named League Two Player of the Month. In August 2016, Gash injured his cruciate ligament
Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and the atlanto-axial joint. In a fashion similar to the cords in a toy Jacob's la ...
, putting him out for the rest of the season, and he was released following the expiry of his contract.
In an effort to get his career back on track, he signed for King's Lynn Town of the seventh tier of the English football pyramid in July 2017. After 14 goals in his first season, in which the Linnets lost the Southern Football League play-off final to Slough Town
Slough Town Football Club is a semi-professional English football club based in Slough, Berkshire. Nicknamed "The Rebels", the team competes in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football, following promotion from the Sou ...
, Gash scored nine league goals in his second season and followed this up with a goal in the Southern League Premier Central play-off final win against Alvechurch
Alvechurch ( ) is a large village and civil parish in the Bromsgrove district in northeast Worcestershire, England, in the valley of the River Arrow. The Lickey Hills Country Park is 2.5 miles (4 km) to the northwest. It is south of Bir ...
, and then scored the winner in extra time in the super play-off against Warrington Town to secure promotion to the National League North
The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Syst ...
. After four seasons at the club that included back-to-back promotions as King's Lynn reached the fifth tier of English football for the first time, Gash departed the club at the end of the 2020–21
The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...
season, citing his full time job as a tree-surgeon as the reason for not wanting to continue his time with the club. In his last match for the club he scored in a dramatic 4–4 draw with Aldershot Town
Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spring ...
.
Gash signed for Southern League Premier Division Central side Peterborough Sports on 8 June 2021.
International career
Gash was capped once by the England national C team, in a 2–2 away draw with Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
on 5 September 2010.
Career statistics
Honours
Barnet
*Conference Premier
The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-professi ...
: 2014–15
References
External links
Michael Gash profile
at the official Barnet F.C.
Barnet Football Club is a professional football club based in Edgware, North London. The team compete in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in Chipping Barnet, then part of Hertfor ...
website
*
Profile
at UpThePosh!
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gash, Michael
1986 births
Living people
People from Rinteln
English footballers
England semi-pro international footballers
Association football forwards
Cambridge City F.C. players
Cambridge United F.C. players
Ebbsfleet United F.C. players
York City F.C. players
Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players
Braintree Town F.C. players
Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players
Nuneaton Borough F.C. players
Barnet F.C. players
King's Lynn Town F.C. players
Peterborough Sports F.C. players
Eastern Counties Football League players
National League (English football) players
English Football League players
Southern Football League players
Footballers from Lower Saxony