Michael Francis Pollitt (born 29 February 1972) 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 le ...
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 ...
.
Club career
Manchester United
Born in
Farnworth
Farnworth is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, southeast of Bolton, 4.3 miles south-west of Bury (7 km), and northwest of Manchester.
Historically in Lancashire, Farnworth lies on the River Ir ...
,
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly.
The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...
,
Pollitt began his career at
Manchester United
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 City of Salford, Salford to ...
turning professional in the summer of 1990 following a two-year apprenticeship. On 5 October 1990, Pollitt joined
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 ...
on a month's loan as back-up for
Jon Hallworth
Jonathan Geoffrey Hallworth (born 26 October 1965) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
Club career
Hallworth began his career as a trainee at Ipswich Town before signing a professional contract. During his ...
but did not make a senior appearance during his time at
Boundary Park
Boundary Park is a football stadium in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. Its name originates from the fact that it lies at the northwestern extremity of Oldham, with Royton and Chadderton lying immediately north and west respectively.
Bound ...
. In January 1991 he joined then
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 ...
side
Macclesfield Town
Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional association football, football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was liquidation, wound-up after a High Court of Justice, High Court ruling on 16 September 2020.
Initially kno ...
, also on loan, debuting in the 1–1 away draw with
Boston United
Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...
on 5 January 1991. After a further appearance in a 2–0
FA Trophy
The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...
defeat at home to
Gretna the following week, Pollitt returned to
Old Trafford
Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...
. Pollitt was released by
Alex Ferguson
Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time ...
at the end of the season.
Bury
Pollitt joined
Bury
Bury may refer to:
*The burial of human remains
*-bury, a suffix in English placenames
Places England
* Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village
* Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire
** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...
ahead of the 1991–92 season but was forced to play a supporting role to regular custodian
Gary Kelly. On 26 March 1992, he joined
Lincoln City on loan for the remainder of the season as cover for
Ian Bowling
Ian Bowling (born 27 July 1965) is an English former professional footballer who played as goalkeeper. He is goalkeeping coach at Staveley MWFC.
Playing career
Bowling started his professional career with Lincoln City whom he joined from Gain ...
following the departure of
Matt Dickins
Matthew James Dickins (born 3 September 1970) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
Career
Born in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire, Dickins attended All Saints RC Comprehensive school on Granville Road.
...
to
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 ...
and was not called upon to make an appearance.
He began the 1992–93 season on loan to
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 ...
side
Altrincham
Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population o ...
debuting in the 1–0 home defeat to
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 ...
on 25 August 1992. He played in the next three league games before heading back to
Gigg Lane
Gigg Lane is a football ground in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, built for Bury F.C. in 1885. The first match was played on 12 September 1885 between Bury and a team from Wigan. One of the world's oldest professional football stadiums, Gig ...
.
Lincoln City
On 24 September 1992, he rejoined Lincoln City on a month's loan to cover for
Ian Bowling
Ian Bowling (born 27 July 1965) is an English former professional footballer who played as goalkeeper. He is goalkeeping coach at Staveley MWFC.
Playing career
Bowling started his professional career with Lincoln City whom he joined from Gain ...
who fractured his foot in a 3–1
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 ...
defeat away to
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
two days previously. Pollitt 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 in the 1–0 home defeat to
Shrewsbury Town
Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...
on 26 September 1992 and made five league appearances for the club, one of which came against his parent club Bury, before relinquishing his place to the returning Bowling. Pollitt however remained on loan at
Sincil Bank
Sincil Bank Stadium, known for sponsorship reasons as LNER Stadium, is a football stadium in Lincoln, England which has been the home of Lincoln City since 1895. Previously, Lincoln City had played at the nearby John O'Gaunts ground since th ...
and at the end of the second month, Lincoln officially took over the remainder of Pollitt's Bury contract. Following a brief sojourn to appear a further time for Altrincham in the 2–0 home victory over
Welling United
Welling United Football Club is a professional football club, based in Welling in the London Borough of Bexley, England. The club's first team play in the National League South, at the sixth tier of English football.
History
Welling United Foot ...
on 19 December 1992, he managed to displace Bowling from the Lincoln side over the Christmas fixtures and a series of impressive displays saw him rewarded with a new two-year contract in March 1993. He began the 1993–1994 season as the Imps first-choice goalkeeper before briefly losing his place to
John Burridge
John Burridge (born 3 December 1951), nicknamed Budgie, is an English former goalkeeper who is now working with Indian Super League club Kerala Blasters as their goalkeeping consultant and senior goalkeeping coach for their goalkeeping academ ...
over the Christmas and New Year fixtures and permanently following the signing of
Andy Leaning
Andrew John Leaning (born 18 May 1963) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and has since been employed as a goalkeeping coach.
Having started his career in the amateur game with York Railway Institute and ...
in March 1994. In the summer, one of the first acts of newly appointed Lincoln manager
Sam Ellis was to transfer list Pollitt and
Dave Ridings and Pollitt soon agreed a move to
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 ...
.
Notts County
On 14 November 1995, his one-time Lincoln City manager
Steve Thompson, acting as team manager with
Colin Murphy Colin Murphy may refer to:
* Colin Murphy (comedian) (born 1968), Irish comedian
* Colin Murphy (ice hockey) (born 1980), Canadian ice hockey player
* Colin Murphy (footballer, born 1950)
Colin Murphy (born 21 January 1950) is an English for ...
as general manager, paid £75,000 to secure Pollitt's services for
Notts County
Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...
. In his time at
Meadow Lane
Meadow Lane Stadium is a football stadium in Nottingham, England. It is the home ground of Notts County, who have played there since it opened in 1910. The stadium was also home to Notts County Ladies F.C. from 2014 until 2017.
It currently h ...
, Pollitt failed to dislodge regular custodian
Darren Ward and had to wait until 22 February 1997 before making his County debut in a 2–0 away defeat to former club Bury. Seeking regular first-team football, Pollitt was sent out on loan to four clubs during the 1997–98 season.
Rotherham United
Mike Pollitt had two spells at
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 ...
, from 1998 to 2000 and 2001 to 2005. Between these two spells was a season at
Chesterfield
Chesterfield may refer to:
Places Canada
* Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan
* Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom
* Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England
** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...
. Pollitt was very highly regarded at the South Yorkshire club, and whilst at Rotherham he registered the highest number of clean sheets (77) in the club's history. He was regarded as "one of the best goalkeepers outside the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
" during his time at Rotherham.
After serving six years at the club Pollitt is regarded as a Rotherham United legend and one, if not the best keeper in the club's history. Following the club's relegation to League One in 2005, Pollitt made a move to Wigan Athletic, who had just won promotion to the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
.
Wigan Athletic
Wigan acquired his services from Rotherham United in June 2005. Prior to Rotherham, Pollitt had also played for
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 ...
and
Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
but his move to Wigan (initially as cover for existing goalkeeper
John Filan
John Richard Filan (born 8 February 1970) is an Australian football coach and former professional player.
As a player, he was a goalkeeper from 1989 until 2008 and notably played in the Premier League for Coventry City where he was a specialist ...
) following advice from Paul Barlow, gave him the chance to play Premier League football. His outstanding performances earned him a regular first team place, and in February 2006 he helped Wigan to a place in the
2006 League Cup Final. In the semi-final he saved a penalty from
Arsenal's Jose Antonio Reyes
Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods.
*Jose ben Abin
*Jose ben Akabya
*Jose the Galilean ...
to help Wigan triumph. In the final itself a hamstring injury in the opening minutes meant that he had to be substituted in the 15th minute, and was replaced by Filan.
Despite being an English goalkeeper playing in the Premier League and playing a part in the success of Wigan Athletic in the 2005–06 season, Pollitt was not considered by
Sven-Göran Eriksson
Sven-Göran Eriksson (; born 5 February 1948) is a Swedish football manager and former player.
After an unassuming playing career as a right-back, Eriksson went on to experience major success in club management between 1977 and 2001, winning 18 ...
for inclusion in the
England squad for the
2006 World Cup
The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...
.
In November 2006 Pollitt joined
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 loan for a month. However, he was recalled by Wigan after only one game because of injury worries within the Wigan squad. He was then loaned to
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
for a month in January 2007. He played four matches for Burnley and was recalled with one match left on his loan deal after
Chris Kirkland
Christopher Edmund Kirkland (born 2 May 1981) is an English football coach and former professional goalkeeper who is now the head goalkeeping coach at Colne. As a player, he made 321 league and cup appearances in an 18-year professional career ...
picked up an injury. He agreed to a new one-year contract with Wigan in May 2009
and subsequently extended his deal by another year in May 2010.
The deal was extended for a further year in July 2011, which ensured that Pollitt remained at the club after his 40th birthday.
Pollitt's stay was extended to an eighth season when he agreed a further one-year contract extension in June 2012, where was second choice to
Ali Al-Habsi
Ali Abdullah Harib Al-Habsi ( ar, علي بن عبد الله بن حارب الحبسي; born 30 December 1981) is an Omani retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.
Club career Early career
Al-Habsi was born in Oman and star ...
in the 2010–11 and 2011–12 seasons.
Pollitt made his first competitive start for Wigan in more than two years against
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 ...
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 ...
on 5 January 2013, and he also started the replay but was substituted off at half time due to an injury. At the end of the season he had his contract extended by another year. On 27 August 2013, Pollitt joined fellow
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
side
Barnsley
Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...
on a month-long loan.
Pollitt retired at the end of the
2013–14 season, having played 52 games for Wigan in nine years.
Coaching career
On 25 June 2014, he was appointed as Wigan's new goalkeeping coach. Following the departure of manager
Gary Caldwell
Gary Caldwell (born 12 April 1982) is a Scottish former professional footballer and coach who is the current manager of Exeter City. Caldwell played for Newcastle United, Darlington, Coventry City, Derby County, Hibernian, Celtic, Wigan Ath ...
, Pollitt along with chief scout
Malcolm Crosby left the club at the end of October 2016. On 12 January 2017, Pollitt returned to Rotherham United to take on the role of goalkeeping coach. On 6 December 2019, he departed the club to become goalkeeping coach at his home town team
Bolton Wanderers
Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...
. He was delighted to finally be part of the team after waiting 30 years. He left on 4 July. Three weeks later he was named the new goalkeeping coach of
Preston North End
Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...
.
Honours
Team
FA cup: 2012-2013
Individual
*
PFA Team of the Year
The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...
:
1999–2000 Third Division,
2000–01 Third Division
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pollitt, Mike
1972 births
Sportspeople from Farnworth
Living people
Men's association football goalkeepers
English footballers
Manchester United F.C. players
Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players
Macclesfield Town F.C. players
Bury F.C. players
Lincoln City F.C. players
Altrincham F.C. players
Darlington F.C. players
Notts County F.C. players
Gillingham F.C. players
Brentford F.C. players
Sunderland A.F.C. players
Rotherham United F.C. players
Chesterfield F.C. players
Wigan Athletic F.C. players
Ipswich Town F.C. players
Burnley F.C. players
Barnsley F.C. players
Premier League players
English Football League players
National League (English football) players
Wigan Athletic F.C. non-playing staff
Rotherham United F.C. non-playing staff
Bolton Wanderers F.C. non-playing staff
Preston North End F.C. non-playing staff
Association football goalkeeping coaches