Mark Andrew Greaves (born 22 January 1975) 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 lea ...

who played as a defender. During his career he played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

from 1996 until 2002. He then joined

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, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club is known as 'the ...

during their time in professional football. Greaves dropped in to Non-League football when he joined

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

in 2007 and later featured for

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...

and

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a Association football, football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the English Football League, Football League i ...

before initially retiring with

North Ferriby United North Ferriby United Association Football Club was a semi-professional football club in North Ferriby, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. At the time of their demise they were members of the Northern Premier League and played at Grange Lane. F ...

in 2011. During the 2015–16 season he briefly came out of retirement and played for Hull United.

Career

Hull City

Born in

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...

Humberside Humberside () was a non-metropolitan and ceremonial county in Northern England from 1 April 1974 until 1 April 1996. It was composed of land from either side of the Humber, created from portions of the East Riding of Yorkshire, West Riding of ...

, Greaves started his career at

Brigg Town Brigg Town Football Club CIC is a football club based in Brigg, Lincolnshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Hawthorns. Established in 1864, not only are they are officially the 7th oldest football club in the world, ...

, where he won an

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, also known as the Isuzu FA Vase for sponsorship reasons, is an annual football competition run by and named after The Football Association (The FA), for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English Nation ...

winners medal before joining hometown club

on 17 June 1996. He was named Hull's

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year. In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is held on b ...

in the 1999–2000 season. He spent his whole Hull career playing in the Third Division and made 204 appearances and scored 12 goals in all competitions before being released in 2002.

Boston United

He was signed by

caretaker manager Neil Thompson in August 2002. He signed a new two-year contract with the club in April 2004 and after this expired he agreed to a one-year deal in May 2006.

Burton Albion

He made 175 appearances and scored five goals in all competitions for the side before moving to

in the

Conference Premier The National League, officially known as Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in England. The National League is the first division of the National Leagues and step 1 of the National Le ...

in July 2007 after finishing the 2006–07 season as Boston's Player of the Year, which saw the team face two relegations. He made 46 appearances and scored five goals in the 2007–08 season but missed the

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

due to a broken jaw.

York City

He was released after a season at Burton and joined fellow Conference Premier side

on 14 May 2008. He was appointed as

club captain The captain of a football/soccer team, sometimes known as the skipper, is a team member chosen to be the on-pitch leader of the team; they are often one of the older or more experienced members of the squad, or a player that can heavily influ ...

for the 2008–09 season. His debut came in a 1–0 victory against

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...

and scored the only goal in the subsequent game against

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

. Greaves suffered from

foodborne illness Foodborne illness (also known as foodborne disease and food poisoning) is any illness resulting from the contamination of food by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites, as well as prions (the agents of mad cow disease), and toxins such ...

in September, which resulted in him losing 9 pounds, and missing York's match against

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team competes in the National League North, the sixth level of the English football league system. Formed in ...

. He scored a 94th-minute equaliser against

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of the Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area and the second largest settlement in Nottinghamshire (following the city ...

in the

Conference League Cup The National League Cup is an annual association football competition in England. The National League Cup is open to clubs playing in the National League and, since its revival in 2024, professional under-21 teams playing in the Premier League 2. ...

third round on 4 November, which York eventually won 4–2 on a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

following a 1–1 draw after

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

. He started in the 2009 FA Trophy Final at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

on 9 May 2009, which York lost 2–0 to

Stevenage Borough Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The club competes in EFL League One, the third level of the Engli ...

. Following the end of the season, during which he made 46 appearances and scored four goals, he entered negotiations with York over a new contract.

Gainsborough Trinity

Greaves was eventually released by York in June and signed for

Conference North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 o ...

team

on 7 July. He made 37 appearances and scored one goal in the 2009–10 season and he signed a new contract with the club in June 2010.

North Ferriby United

Greaves was among a number of players released by Gainsborough at the end of the 2010–11 season and on 28 June 2011 he signed for

Northern Premier League Premier Division The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English football league system. Geographically, the league c ...

side

. In October, having made 11 appearances in all competitions for North Ferriby, Greaves announced his retirement as a footballer.

Hull United

On 30 January 2015, he returned to the game, joining Humber Premier League outfit Hull United.

Personal life

Greaves is the father of fellow footballer

Jacob Greaves Jacob John Greaves (born 12 September 2000) is an English professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Ipswich Town. He is the son of former Hull City and York City defender Mark Greaves. Career Cheltenham Town On 8 August 20 ...

Career statistics

Honours

Brigg Town *

: 1995–96 Individual * Hull City Player of the Year: 1999–2000 * Boton United Player of the Year: 2006–07

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Greaves, Mark 1975 births Living people Footballers from Kingston upon Hull English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Men's association football utility players English Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players Brigg Town F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Boston United F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players York City F.C. players Gainsborough Trinity F.C. players North Ferriby United A.F.C. players Hull United A.F.C. players