Mark Anthony Beesley (born 5 December 1980) is an English former

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 played as a striker. He is currently manager at

Warrington Town Warrington Town Football Club is an association football club based in Warrington, Cheshire. They were established in 1949 under the name of Stockton Heath, adopting their current name in 1961. They currently compete in and play at Cantilever P ...

having previously been assistant manager.

Career

Born in

Burscough Burscough () is a town and civil parish in West Lancashire in the ceremonial county of Lancashire, England. It is located to the north of Ormskirk and northwest of Skelmersdale. The parish also includes the hamlet of Tarlscough and the Martin ...

, Lancashire, Beesley began his career at the youth system 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 syst ...

before signing a professional contract on 26 June 1999. He subsequently spent three and a half seasons at Chester City. Beesley scored 16 times in the 2001–02 season to help Chester avoid relegation from 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 th ...

, but by the start of the 2003–04 he was out of favour with

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Mark Wright. After a spell out on

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

, Beesley was allowed to join Chester's title rivals

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

in December 2003. Beesley made 15 appearances for the club, scoring in Hereford's record-equalling 9–0 win over

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Often known simply as Dag ...

, and against his former club in the 2–1 win over Chester. However, by this point Chester had sealed the Football Conference title at Hereford's expense and Beesley was to lose out in the play-offs to Aldershot Town. He joined Forest Green Rovers on 8 June 2004 where he was initially unlucky with injuries, missing nearly an entire season with a knee injury. In August 2006 he returned to the north-west for a loan spell with

Lancaster City Lancaster City Football Club is an English semi-professional non-League football club based in the northern city of Lancaster, Lancashire. They currently compete in and play at Giant Axe. They are full members of the Lancashire County Footba ...

, before returning to Forest Green, where he struck up a strong partnership with the prolific Stuart Fleetwood. He signed for

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 N ...

in January 2008 for a five-figure fee but never really enjoyed the form he had in his later stages at Forest Green. He was loaned to Chester City and

AFC Telford United AFC Telford United is a football club based in Telford, Shropshire, England. The club was formed in 2004 after the original Telford United, founded in 1872, folded due to financial problems. Currently members of the National League North, the ...

before being released by Cambridge manager Martin Ling at the end of the 2009–10 season. He signed for newly promoted

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-profess ...

side

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed ...

on 29 July 2010. He joined fellow Conference Premier team

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 ...

on a one-month loan on 5 October and he made his debut later that day in a 1–0 defeat to

Kettering Town Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts ...

. Beesley returned to Fleetwood early on 1 November after York manager Gary Mills decided to cut his loan short. He then joined

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 ...

on loan until 3 January 2011 on 26 November and he made his debut a day later in a 4–0 defeat at Cambridge. After his loan spell expired, he signed permanently for Altrincham but was released at the end of the season. In July 2011, Beesley signed for

Northern Premier League Premier Division The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Division ...

side

, in his home town. He moved to promotion challenging Hednesford Town on 6 January 2012. He ended the 2011–12 season with Hednesford but left the club at the end of the season. In June 2012, Beesley signed for Northern Premier League Premier Division outfit Nantwich Town. He left Nantwich on loan in October 2012 however and joined

of the Northern Premier League Division One North and made his club debut on 30 October in a match against Ramsbottom United. In his next match, he scored his first goal for the club, as they beat Harrogate Railway Athletic 4–0 at home. In February 2013, Beesley was released by Nantwich and later that month signed for Northern Premier League Division One North side Skelmersdale United. He left a few weeks later to join

West Lancashire Football League The West Lancashire Football League is a football competition based in northern England, consisting of five divisions – three for first teams (Premier, One and Two), and two for reserve teams. The league is currently sponsored by Lancaster ...

Division One club Burscough Richmond in late February 2013.

Coaching

Beesley was managing

in 2016, but left in June of that year. He later joined

as assistant manager to Paul Carden whilst also coaching at an academy run by

Robbie Fowler Robert Bernard Fowler (born 9 April 1975) is an English football manager and former player, who most recently managed East Bengal in the Indian Super League. As a player, he was a striker, and is the eighth-highest goalscorer in the histor ...

. Beesley was appointed manager in December 2021, after Carden left to manage another club.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beesley, Mark 1980 births Living people People from Burscough Footballers from Lancashire English footballers Association football forwards Preston North End F.C. players Chester City F.C. players Southport F.C. players Hereford United F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players Lancaster City F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players AFC Telford United players Fleetwood Town F.C. players York City F.C. players Altrincham F.C. players Burscough F.C. players Hednesford Town F.C. players Nantwich Town F.C. players Warrington Town F.C. players Skelmersdale United F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players Warrington Town F.C. managers English football managers