Mark James Halstead (born 17 September 1990) is an English

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 plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

for

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

. He began his career at

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and ...

, and notably made a single appearance in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

during the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

season. After his release from the ''Tangerines'' he joined

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mov ...

in 2014.

Career

Blackpool

Born in

, Halstead is a product of the Blackpool Centre of Excellence and Youth Department, and signed his first professional contract with the club in 2009. In his first season as a professional he spent loan spells at non-league sides

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 ...

and

Hyde United Hyde United Football Club is a semi-professional Association football, football club in Hyde, Greater Manchester, England. Formed in 1919, they were renamed Hyde F.C. between 2010 and 2015 as part of a sponsorship deal with Manchester City F.C. ...

. On 21 August 2010, he was an unused substitute in Blackpool's 6–0 defeat to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

at the

Emirates Stadium The Emirates Stadium (known as Arsenal Stadium for UEFA competitions) is a football stadium in Holloway, London, England. It has been the home stadium of Arsenal Football Club since its completion in 2006. It has a current seated capacit ...

in the club's second game of their debut season in the

. Three days later, he made his first-team debut in the

second round The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds eac ...

of the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

, against

MK Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. Th ...

Stadium MK Stadium MK is a football ground in the Denbigh district of Bletchley in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. Designed by Populous and opened in 2007, it is the home ground of EFL League One side Milton Keynes Dons and FA Women's Nationa ...

. After further brief loan spells at Barrow, and

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 ...

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 ...

, Halstead made his league debut for Blackpool, as a substitute for Richard Kingson in a 3–1 defeat to

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament const ...

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a single-tier football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C. since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two being Raikes Hall Gardens and the ...

. The score was 3–0 when he came on in the 66th minute. In November 2011, he went on loan to

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

. Halstead made his first league start for Blackpool on 9 February 2013, in a 2–1 victory over

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, ea ...

at Bloomfield Road. It was ultimately also his last appearance for the club.

Shrewsbury Town

Following his release from

, Halstead joined

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Le ...

on a free transfer on 5 June 2014. He made his debut as a substitute in a first-round

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competit ...

tie away at

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is t ...

on 8 November, and made one subsequent appearance that season in a league match against

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 ...

, as a half-time substitute for first-choice goalkeeper

Jayson Leutwiler Jayson William Leutwiler (born 25 April 1989) is a professional football player who plays as a goalkeeper for National League club Oldham Athletic and the Canada national team. A product of the FC Basel academy, he was loaned to several other ...

in a 0–0 draw. The following season, now in

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

, Halstead made his first start for Shrewsbury against his former club

on 26 September 2015, keeping a clean sheet in a 2–0 win for the club's first home victory of the season. Although Leutwiler was reinstated immediately after recovering from a back injury, Halstead had another run in the first-team when Leutwiler suffered a serious facial injury in an FA Cup second-round tie away at

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...

. Coming on as a substitute, he helped Shrewsbury keep a clean sheet to set up a replay back at

New Meadow New Meadow, also known as Montgomery Waters Meadow for sponsorship purposes, is a stadium situated on the southern outskirts of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, between the districts of Meole Brace and Sutton Farm, and close to the A5. It serves the hom ...

, where he featured again in a 1–0 victory, to confirm a third-round tie away at

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as R ...

. After conceding ten goals in two league games, he lost his place once again to Leutwiler for an away match at

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 ...

, but returned to the side for a further consecutive six matches during March and April, including one win and three draws, before being sent-off late on in a 3–1 defeat against

. Halstead made one final appearance that season in the penultimate match, where despite losing 4–3 to

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standin ...

, same day defeats for

and

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at T ...

ensured another season of League One football with one game to spare. Halstead signed a new one-year contract extension in August 2016. Starting the season again as second-choice, he returned to the starting line-up under new manager

Paul Hurst Paul Michael Hurst (born 25 September 1974) is an English football manager and former player who is the manager of club Grimsby Town. As a player, he was a defender from 1993 to 2008, notably playing his entire career at Rotherham United, b ...

following Leutwilers first call-up to the Canada national team. It was announced Halstead was to be released by the club at the end of his contract in May 2017.

Southport

After leaving Shrewsbury, Halstead joined

National League 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 Sy ...

side

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 ...

Morecambe

Despite Halstead being named on Southport's retained list at the end of the 2017–18 season, he signed for

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district in Lancashire, England. It is in Morecambe Bay on the Irish Sea. Name The first use of the name was by John Whitaker in his ''History of Manchester'' (1771), ...

on 9 July 2018. Halstead, in an interview on the club's official website, said his move to

"was an opportunity to resurrect iscareer and one ecouldn't turn down" and he was "delighted" to make the move back into 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 ...

manager

Jim Bentley James Graham Bentley (born 11 June 1976) is an English professional football manager and former player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** ...

described Halstead as "experienced," "a decent all round goalkeeper" and "hungry to prove he can be number one." He signed a new two-year contract with the club in June 2019. He was released at the end of the 2020–21 season.

Torquay United

Halstead was announced as a new signing for

under manager

Gary Johnson Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman, author, and politician. He served as the 29th governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party. He was the Libertarian Party nominee for Presid ...

on 19 July 2021.

Career statistics

Honours

Morecambe *

EFL League Two play-offs The EFL League Two play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from fourth to seventh in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are part of the annual Engl ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

References

External links

*
Mark Halstead player profile
at shrewsburytown.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Halstead, Mark 1990 births Living people English footballers Association football goalkeepers Blackpool F.C. players Burscough F.C. players Hyde United F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Kettering Town F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players Morecambe F.C. players Northern Premier League players National League (English football) players Premier League players English Football League players Sportspeople from Blackpool Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Southport F.C. players Torquay United F.C. players