Mark Nelson Paston (born 13 December 1976) is a New Zealand former

football goalkeeper 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 ca ...

who most recently played for the

Wellington Phoenix Wellington Phoenix Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wellington, New Zealand. It competes in the Australian A-League, under licence from Football Federation Australia. Phoenix entered the competition in the ...

in the

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

before announcing his retirement from professional football at the end of the 2012/13 A-League season.

Club career

Early career

Paston's senior career began with

Napier City Rovers Napier City Rovers is a football team based in Napier, New Zealand, competing in the Central Premier League. Club history The team was founded in 1973 via a merger of Napier Rovers and Napier City. Napier City Rovers have won New Zealand's p ...

before he moved to the United Kingdom in 2003 to join

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

. He followed this with a season at

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

and then

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

, before returning to New Zealand with the

New Zealand Knights New Zealand Knights Football Club (formed from the Football Kingz Football Club in 2004) were the only professional association football club in New Zealand before they became defunct. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, they played in the A-League ...

Wellington Phoenix

Paston signed for

club

in 2007 from the

. Paston made his debut for the Phoenix against

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional Association Football, soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under North American professional sports league organization#Systems ar ...

where they lost 4–1. Paston was often the Phoenix second choice

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 ...

but when

Glen Moss Glen Robert Moss (born 19 January 1983) is a retired New Zealand goalkeeper who played for New Zealand at international level. A foundational member of both the New Zealand Knights and Wellington Phoenix, Moss has competed in 14 seasons of the ...

left to

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory e ...

, Paston became Phoenix's first-choice goalkeeper. Paston signed a new one-year contract at the beginning of the 2009, keeping him at the Phoenix until the end of the 2009/2010 season. Paston played a large part in the Phoenix's undefeated home streak A-League record by keeping clean sheets against

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Ma ...

and

Gold Coast United Gold Coast United Football Club is an Australian soccer club based in Gold Coast, Queensland. The earliest incarnation of the club formed in 1966 and its home ground was at Nikiforides Family Park in Broadbeach. The first era of Gold Coast Unit ...

. On 10 December 2009 Paston suffered a

tibia The tibia (; ), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the tibia); it connects ...

fracture that kept him sidelined for the rest of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

. On 19 January 2010, Paston along with teammates Reece Crowther and Troy Hearfield signed contract extensions with the Phoenix. Paston is contracted until the conclusion of the 2011–12 season. In a repeat of history, Paston suffered another tibial fracture below the right knee on 11 December 2010 after a collision in the loss to

, sidelining him for the second half of the 2010–2011 season. On 31 March 2013 Mark Paston announced his retirement from Wellington Phoenix and all professional football following the final 2012/13 regular season game in Round 27 against Melbourne Victory at Westpac Stadium.

International career

Paston, having represented New Zealand at Under-23 level, made his full

All Whites The New Zealand men's national football team ( mi, Tīma hoka a-motu o Aotearoa) represents New Zealand in men's international football competitions. The team is governed by the governing body for football in New Zealand, New Zealand Footbal ...

debut at the age of 20 in a 5–0 loss to

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

on 21 September 1997, but did not feature in another full international until 2003,

Jason Batty Jason Alfred Batty (born 23 March 1971) is a New Zealand former professional footballer, who played as a goalkeeper, and is the current New Zealand National Team Assistant/Goalkeeping Coach. Batty frequently represented the New Zealand nationa ...

Michael Utting Michael Glenn Utting (born 26 May 1970, in Wellington) is a former New Zealand football player who played as a goalkeeper. Early years Utting grew up in Ngaio, Wellington, the youngest of four children. His father is a civil engineer, his mot ...

and later

Ross Nicholson Ross Nicholson (born 8 August 1975) is an association football goalkeeper who represented New Zealand at international level. He was born at Gisborne, New Zealand in 1975. International career Nicholson made his full All Whites debut as a sub ...

being preferred choices. Since returning to the international side in 2003, Paston has competed with former Wellington Phoenix teammate

for the goalkeeper position. Since 2003 New Zealand has played 59 matches and between Paston (35) and Moss (21) they have played 56 matches between them. He was named in the New Zealand

2009 Confederations Cup The 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup was the eighth Confederations Cup, and was held in South Africa from 14 June to 28 June 2009, as a prelude to the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The draw was held on 22 November 2008 at the Sandton Convention Centre in Joh ...

squad to travel to South Africa, where he was second choice as Moss played in all three games. However, Moss' suspension from international football for improper conduct meant that Paston played in the World Cup Qualification playoff against

Bahrain Bahrain ( ; ; ar, البحرين, al-Bahrayn, locally ), officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, ' is an island country in Western Asia. It is situated on the Persian Gulf, and comprises a small archipelago made up of 50 natural islands and an ...

. On 10 October 2009 Paston kept a clean sheet in the first leg in

Riffa Riffa ( ar, الرفاع, ) is the second largest city in the Kingdom of Bahrain by area size. Riffa is divided into three parts: , and . The city is completely located in the Southern Governorate. The city is growing fast: during the 2001 cen ...

, and in the return leg on 14 November 2009 he was Man of the Match, saving a penalty from

Sayed Mohamed Adnan Sayed Mohamed Adnan ( ar, سيد محمد عدنان; born 5 February 1983) is a Bahraini footballer who once played for the national team, and currently playing for Al Hidd. International career He was a member of the Bahrain national football ...

in the 51st minute which was enough to secure New Zealand a 1–0 win in

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...

, enabling them to qualify for the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

for only the second time in their history. Paston's fractured leg had threatened to harm his World Cup chances, but the goalkeeper made a good recovery and was named in New Zealand's final 23-man squad to compete at the World Cup on 10 May 2010. With Moss' suspension running into the first two games of the World Cup, Paston went on to play all of New Zealand's matches as

Ricki Herbert Ricki Lloyd Herbert (born 10 April 1961) is a New Zealand former footballer and manager. He is the current technical director at Cambridge FC. Herbert was formerly head coach of the New Zealand national team, stepping down after the side faile ...

's first-choice goalkeeper. On 15 June 2010, Paston started against

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

and played an important role in helping New Zealand secure their first ever World Cup point with a 1–1 draw, however in the first half he went to clear the ball but completely missed it in his attempted kick, luckily Slovakia could not convert the chance. Five days later he was instrumental in ensuring the All Whites drew 1–1 with reigning champions

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, making several acrobatic saves. His good form meant that he started the final group game against

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

on 24 June, but despite pulling off more excellent saves and keeping a clean sheet in a 0–0 draw, the All Whites were unable to reach the last 16. Following the retirement from Wellington Phoenix at the end of the 2012/13 A-League season, Paston did not make his retirement from international football official until 8 August 2013.

International clean sheets and caps

New Zealand's goal tally first.

International career statistics

Career statistics

References

External links

Mark Paston Interview
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Profile
NZ Soccer – All White * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paston, Mark 1976 births Living people New Zealand association footballers New Zealand international footballers Bradford City A.F.C. players St Johnstone F.C. players A-League Men players New Zealand Knights FC players Wellington Phoenix FC players Walsall F.C. players Sportspeople from Hastings, New Zealand Association football goalkeepers Napier City Rovers FC players Expatriate footballers in England New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2004 OFC Nations Cup players 2008 OFC Nations Cup players 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players