Mark Crossley

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the Canadian rock musician, see Mark Crossley (musician).

Mark Crossley
Personal information
Full name	Mark Geoffrey Crossley
Date of birth	June 16, 1969 (1969-06-16) (age 38)
Place of birth	Barnsley, England
Height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Oldham Athletic
Number	1
Youth clubs
1987–1989	Nottingham Forest
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1987–2000 1990 1998 2000–2003 2002 2003 2003–2007 2006–2007 2007–	Nottingham Forest → Manchester United (loan) → Millwall (loan) Middlesbrough → Stoke City (loan) → Stoke City (loan) Fulham → Sheffield Wednesday (loan) Oldham Athletic	303 (0) 000 (0) 014 (0) 023 (0) 001 (0) 011 (0) 019 (0) 017 (1) 038 (0)
National team2
1990 1997–2004	England U21 Wales	003 (0) 008 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 01:32, 28 May 2008 (UTC). 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 23:44, 31 January 2008 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

Mark Geoffrey Crossley (born June 16, 1969 in Barnsley, England) is an English-born Welsh football goalkeeper currently playing for Oldham Athletic, where he is also a coach.

Contents 1 Club Career 1.1 Nottingham Forest 1.2 Middlesbrough 1.3 Fulham 1.4 Sheffield Wednesday 1.5 Oldham Athletic 2 International Career 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Club Career

[edit] Nottingham Forest

"Norm", as he was known by Nottingham Forest fans during his stay at the City Ground, started his football career in 1987 as a trainee with The Reds. He was a huge favourite with the fans and made just under 400 appearances in thirteen years with the club, becoming first-choice 'keeper after Steve Sutton's move to Derby in 1992.

He has a great ability to save penalty kicks - he, and former Nottingham Forest goalkeeper team mate Dave Beasant, remain the only goalkeepers to save a penalty in an FA Cup final. Crossley is also the only keeper ever to have denied Matt Le Tissier from the penalty spot. He also has the unwanted distinction of scoring the first Premier League own goal, in Forest's 4-1 defeat at Blackburn Rovers on 5 September, 1992.

He was granted a testimonial match during the 1999-2000 season by Nottingham Forest, which was played in front of 15,000 supporters. During that season, Crossley found himself on the bench numerous times, playing second choice keeper to Dave Beasant. He was finally released from Forest, against his will, in 2000 as the club's financial troubles required them to reduce the wage bill.

[edit] Middlesbrough

Crossley joined Middlesbrough on a free transfer to provide competition as well as cover for the number one spot at the club. He made seven appearances in the 2000-01 season, but was sent off against Arsenal in November 2000, and did not play again for the rest of the season. He played more games in the 2001-02 season, but the following season was loaned out to Stoke City in late 2002 and all of 2003. He made only 23 appearances in 3 years for Middlesbrough.

[edit] Fulham

Frustrated by not playing many games at Boro, Crossley joined Fulham for £500,000 in 2003 and made his debut against Wigan Athletic at the JJB Stadium on 23 September 2003.

He was mainly the second-choice goalkeeper during his time at the club, although he did have more opportunities to play in the first team during the 2005-06 season due to the sale of former number 1 goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar. His finest match that season came when, deputising for the injured Finnish international Antti Niemi, he kept a clean sheet against champions Chelsea in a 1-0 victory, producing many saves as Chelsea piled pressure on late in the game. Before joining Sheffield Wednesday on loan, he was the number 3 keeper to Niemi and Czech goalkeeper Jan Lastuvka at Fulham.

[edit] Sheffield Wednesday

Former team mate and Sheffield Wednesday manager Brian Laws made Crossley his first signing in November 2006, bringing him in on loan. Crossley impressed, with a string of fine performances and the loan deal was extended to the end of the season.^[1]

On December 23, 2006 Crossley scored a dramatic late equaliser for Sheffield Wednesday in a 3-3 draw with Southampton at Hillsborough, in his 481st career match, after coming up for a late corner.

However, after being stiched up by Brian Laws over a contract, Iain Turner was brought in on loan and Crossley returned to Fulham.

[edit] Oldham Athletic

After being released by Fulham at the end of the 2006-07 season,^[2] Crossley signed for League One side Oldham Athletic. He will also take a coaching role at the club. he has already played most of the games available, despite being injured for 6 games in march.^[3].

Crossley signed a one year extension to his current contract, he is now contracted at Latics until the end of the 2008/2009 season. ^[4].

[edit] International Career

Crossley was a regular in the Welsh international squad, but served as understudy to Neville Southall, and then Paul Jones. He started only 8 games. His most memorable moment with the national team was Wales' 4-0 win over Scotland.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Mark Crossley career stats at Soccerbase

v • d • e Oldham Athletic A.F.C. – current squad 1 Crossley • 2 Eardley • 4 Kalala • 5 Thompson • 6 Stam • 8 Allott • 9 Hughes • 10 Davies • 12 Lomax • 14 Hazell • 15 McDonald • 16 Gregan • 17 Wolfenden • 18 Taylor • 22 Liddell • 24 Smalley • 25 Alessandra • 31 Bell • 32 Black • 42 Chalmers • – Fleming • – Lee • – O'Grady • – Stephens • Manager: Sheridan