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 ...

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

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's ...

where he played 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 North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is know ...

during their time in professional football and managed to chalk up a combined total of 335 games for both teams. 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 compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home gro ...

in 2007 and went on to feature for

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 ...

and

Gainsborough Trinity Gainsborough Trinity Football Club is a football club based in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, England. Established in 1873, the club became members of the Football League in 1893 and remained members of the Second Division until 1912, making Gains ...

before initially retiring with North Ferriby United 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 abbreviated to Hull, is a port city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Estuary, inland from ...

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 Estuary, created from portions of the East Riding of Yorkshire, West ...

, 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, they are one of the oldest football clubs in the world. History The club w ...

, where he won an

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footb ...

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 (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...

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 Neil Thompson (born 2 October 1963) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender. He played for Scarborough, Ipswich Town and Barnsley amongst others. Playing career Thompson was born in Beverley, East Riding of Yo ...

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, 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 ...

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 team captain of an association football 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 heavi ...

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 club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team com ...

and scored the only goal in the subsequent game against

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the county ...

. Greaves suffered from

foodborne illness Foodborne illness (also foodborne disease and food poisoning) is any illness resulting from the spoilage of contaminated food by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites that contaminate food, as well as prions (the agents of mad cow ...

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

Kidderminster Harriers Kidderminster Harriers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team compete in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. Formed ...

. He scored a 94th-minute equaliser against

Mansfield Mansfield is a market town and the administrative centre of Mansfield District in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the largest town in the wider Mansfield Urban Area (followed by Sutton-in-Ashfield). It gained the Royal Charter of a market t ...

in the

Conference League Cup The Conference League Cup (formerly known as the Setanta Shield for sponsorship reasons, and before that the Bob Lord Trophy) was a football competition open to clubs playing in the Football Conference. History The competition was formed for ...

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 or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport 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 ...

. He started in the

2009 FA Trophy Final The 2009 FA Trophy Final was the 39th final of The Football Association's cup competition for levels 5–8 of the English football league system. It was contested by Stevenage Borough, who won the competition in 2007, and York City on 9 May 200 ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

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 team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English f ...

. 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, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sys ...

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. 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 North Ferriby United. 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 Hull City. He is the son of former Hull City and York City defender Mark Greaves. Career On 8 August 2019, Greaves signed a ...

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 footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Men's association football utility 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 English Football League players National League (English football) players Northern Premier League players