Mark Gillespie (footballer)

Mark Joseph Gillespie (born 27 March 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Scottish Premiership club Motherwell.

Mark Gillespie
Gillespie playing for Carlisle United in 2015
Personal information
Full name Mark Joseph Gillespie[1]
Date of birth (1992-03-27) 27 March 1992[1]
Place of birth Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[2]
Playing position(s) Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Motherwell
Number 20
Youth career
2000–2008 Newcastle United
2008–2010 Carlisle United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2017 Carlisle United 161 (0)
2010–2011 → Blyth Spartans (loan) 12 (0)
2017–2018 Walsall 23 (0)
2018– Motherwell 57 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:25, 7 March 2020 (UTC)

Club career

Early career

Gillespie was part of the academy setup at Newcastle United before moving to Carlisle United in 2008, at the age of 16. He started at Carlisle as a youth team player before graduating to the reserve team.[3]

Carlisle United

On 20 February 2010, Gillespie was named as a substitute for Carlisle's League One match against Swindon Town due to an injury suffered by Lenny Pidgeley. He was on the bench for a further 7 games before Pidgeley returned for the 2010 Football League Trophy Final on 28 March 2010.

On 8 May 2010, the final day of the 2009–10 season, Gillespie made his professional debut in a win against Norwich City at Carrow Road after coming on as a late substitute. Gillespie therefore became the youngest keeper ever to represent Carlisle, at 18 years and 42 days, beating the previous record set by Tony Caig.

In the 2010–11 season, Gillespie joined Blyth Spartans, then in the Conference North, on a month-long loan. He made his first start against Eastwood Town on 16 October 2010, keeping a clean sheet. His loan was extended for a further two months before he returned to Carlisle.[4] He made no appearances for Carlisle in either of the 2010–11 or 2011–12 seasons.

Gillespie made his first start for Carlisle in Carlisle's Football League Trophy tie against Preston North End on 4 September 2012.[5] This ended a run of 146 consecutive starts for Adam Collin. Gillespie retained his place in the team the following Saturday, in a league fixture against Hartlepool United, after Carlisle manager Greg Abbott said that Gillespie and Collin were competing against each other for the goalkeeping position.[5][6] Gillespie was praised by Tottenham Hotspur boss André Villas-Boas and veteran keeper Carlo Cudicini after Carlisle slipped to a 3–0 defeat in a League Cup tie on 26 September. The praise was earned after Gillespie pulled off a string of fine saves to keep United in the match early on.[7] Gillespie lost his place in the first team at the start of November 2012, after playing 13 consecutive games in two months, during which he conceded 23 goals and kept only one clean sheet (in a game against Crewe Alexandra on 18 September 2012). He regained his place in the team one and a half months later in a 2–1 loss at Shrewsbury Town and retained it to make 37 appearances for the season. During the season, he extended his contract until the end of the 2014–15 season,[8] while at the season's end, Collin departed the club for Rotherham United.[9]

Gillespie's 2013–14 season was curtailed by a knee injury suffered in an FA Cup tie against Boreham Wood in November.[10] He made no further appearances for Carlisle during the season, as the club was relegated to League Two.[11] Gillespie turned down a new contract from Carlisle on 7 June 2017.

Walsall

On 23 June 2017, Gillespie joined League One side Walsall on a two-year contract.[12]

Motherwell

On 5 June 2018, Gillespie signed for Scottish Premiership club Motherwell on a two-year deal.[13] He made his debut on 17 July 2018, in a Scottish League Cup group stage match at home to Edinburgh City.[14] During the season Gillespie saved a penalty on four occasions; at home against Celtic,[15] two in matches against St Johnstone,[16][17] and at home to Livingston in the final game of the season.[18]

Career statistics

Club
As of 7 March 2020
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Carlisle United 2009–10[19] League One 1000000010
2010–11[20] 0000000000
2011–12[21] 0000000000
2012–13[22] 35000101[lower-alpha 1]0370
2013–14[23] 15010201[lower-alpha 1]0190
2014–15[24] League Two 19000101[lower-alpha 1]0210
2015–16[25] 450203000500
2016–17[26] 46020202[lower-alpha 2]0520
Total 16105090501800
Blyth Spartans (loan) 2010–11 Conference North 9000—2[lower-alpha 3]0110
Walsall 2017–18[27] League One 230101000250
Motherwell 2018–19[28] Scottish Premiership 2701010—290
2019–20[29] 3003050—380
Total 570406000670
Career total 2410100160502720
  1. Appearances in the Football League Trophy
  2. Appearances in the League Two play-offs
  3. Appearances in the FA Trophy

References
  1. "Mark Gillespie". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  2. Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2012). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2012–2013 (43rd ed.). London: Headline Publishing Group. p. 449. ISBN 978-0-7553-6356-8.
  3. "Gillespie signs new deal". Sky Sports (14 February 2011).
  4. "Blyth Spartans extend loan of Carlisle's Mark Gillespie". BBC. 11 November 2010.
  5. "Carlisle United goalkeepers battle it out to be No1". News & Star. 7 September 2012. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  6. "Abbott dives into his Pool of young talent". News & Star. 10 September 2012. Archived from the original on 12 September 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
  7. "Spurs pair praise Carlisle Utd rookie keeper after game". News & Star. 27 September 2012. Archived from the original on 12 September 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  8. "Mark Gillespie signs new Carlisle United deal until 2014". BBC. 13 December 2012.
  9. "Rotherham United sign Richard Brindley and Adam Collin". BBC. 23 May 2013.
  10. "Carlisle United: Mark Gillespie could miss next two months". BBC. 12 November 2013.
  11. "Gillespie can make his mark on new-look Carlisle United side". News and Star. 12 September 2014. Archived from the original on 12 September 2014.
  12. "Walsall sign former Carlisle goalkeeper on two-year deal". BBC Sport. 23 June 2017.
  13. "Mark Gillespie: Motherwell sign goalkeeper on two-year deal". BBC Sport. 5 June 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  14. Jackson, Will (17 July 2018). "Motherwell 5 - 0 Edinburgh City: Frear nets first-half hat-trick". The Scotsman. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  15. Mullen, Scott (5 December 2018). "Motherwell 1–1 Celtic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  16. Sutherland, Jonathan (15 December 2018). "St Johnstone 1–2 Motherwell". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  17. McLauchlin, Brian (30 March 2019). "Motherwell 3–0 St Johnstone". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  18. Watt, Martin (18 May 2019). "Motherwell 3–2 Livingston". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
  19. "Games played by Mark Gillespie in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  20. "Games played by Mark Gillespie in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  21. "Games played by Mark Gillespie in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  22. "Games played by Mark Gillespie in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  23. "Games played by Mark Gillespie in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  24. "Games played by Mark Gillespie in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  25. "Games played by Mark Gillespie in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  26. "Games played by Mark Gillespie in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
  27. "Games played by Mark Gillespie in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  28. "Games played by Mark Gillespie in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  29. "Games played by Mark Gillespie in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.