Mark Thomas McChrystal (born 26 June 1984) is a Northern Irish 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 ...
and coach. Born in
Derry
Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...
, he was a left-footed defender, he has in the past also captained the
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
under-21 side. He is professional development coach at
Derry City.
Club career
McChrystal began his career at
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...
where he was one of a plethora of young players from Northern Ireland playing there. After spending three years at
Molineux, including a spell on loan at
Bradford City
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander.
The club was founded in 1903 and ...
in 2003,
he was released by the
Midlands
The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefor ...
club and he eventually returned home to sign for his local team
Derry City of the
League of Ireland
The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...
in April 2003,
despite interest from other English clubs. He was then loaned out to near neighbours
Institute
An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body.
In some countries, institutes ca ...
by
Dermot Keely
Dermot Keely (born 8 March 1954) is an Irish former manager and player. He was a schoolteacher by profession.
Family
Keely's family have played League of Ireland football at various levels. His late father Peter Keely played for Shelbourne., h ...
on a three-month deal.
His stay in the
Irish League was short-lived however, and after just six games for the club, he picked up an injury in the quarter-final of the
North-West Cup against
Moyola Park
Moyola Park is a country estate near Castledawson, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It was formerly the home of Lady Moyola and Lord Moyola, former Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. The estate is and is home to Moyola Park Golf ...
which hastened his return to Derry City.
He fought his way back into the team under Gavin Dykes and
Peter Hutton Peter Hutton may refer to:
* Peter Hutton (filmmaker)
Peter Barrington Hutton (August 24, 1944 – June 25, 2016) was an American experimental film, experimental filmmaker, known primarily for his silent cinematic portraits of cities and landscape ...
but did not appear regularly during the reign of
Stephen Kenny due to stiff competition in defence. Seen to be surplus to demands, he was released on 14 December 2006 after the appointment of
Pat Fenlon
Patrick Fenlon (born 15 March 1969) is an Irish football coach and former player.
Fenlon played as a midfielder for St Patrick's Athletic, Bohemians, Linfield, Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne. As a manager he won five League of Ireland title ...
as manager.
Within a month he had moved to
Glasgow
Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
-based club,
Partick Thistle
Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...
. He made his Jags debut in a 2–0 defeat by Clyde on 2 January 2007 and was a regular through to the end of the season. He scored his only goal in a 4–3 defeat by Queen of the South as Partick almost came back from 4–0 down.
He re-signed for Derry City in August 2007 after turning down a move to Glentoran and being released by new Thistle manager
Ian McCall. The following year he collected his first major honours, a winner's medal in the League Cup as Wexford Youths were routed 6–1 and a runners-up medal following an
FAI Cup Final penalty shoot-out defeat by Bohemians.
Unhappy with his limited first team chances after returning from a broken cheekbone and non-payment of wages, he negotiated an early release from his Derry contract in August 2009.
He went on trial at Huddersfield but failed to win a deal and Crewe Alexandra before joining
Lisburn Distillery
Lisburn Distillery Football Club is a Northern Irish intermediate football club who are based in Ballyskeagh, Lisburn. A founder member of the Irish League, they currently play in the NIFL Premier Intermediate League, the third tier of the Nor ...
on a short-term deal in late 2009.
Unhappy over non-payment of his wages by Lisburn
he rejoined Derry City for a third spell in January 2010, signing a one-year contract. He then went on to help Derry back into the Premier Division as First Division Champions.
On 6 January 2011 he joined English club
Tranmere Rovers
Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system.
Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...
on a six-month contract and made his
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 ...
debut as a 77th-minute substitute on 8 January against Walsall. At the end of the 2010–11 season he offered a new contract by the club
and at the end of June he signed a two-year contract.
His first goal for the club came against Scunthorpe on 5 May 2012 in Tranmere's final match of the season.
Bristol Rovers
On 3 January 2013, he signed a short-term contract with
League Two side
Bristol Rovers
Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...
. He made his home debut on 5 January as bottom-club Rovers were defeated 2–0 by league leaders
Gillingham. On 30 April 2013, McChrystal signed a new two-year contract with the club.
On 4 September 2013, McChrystal scored his first, and what to be proved only, goal for the club with an equaliser as Rovers were defeated 2–1 by arch rivals
Bristol City
Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system.
Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...
in the
Football League Trophy First Round, the first meeting between the two in six years. McChrystal featured in the final match of the season as Rovers lost 1–0 at home to
Mansfield Town
Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system.
The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...
, condemning the club to relegation from the Football League for the first time in the club's history.
McChrystal was appointed captain by manager
Darrell Clarke
Darrell James Clarke (born 16 December 1977) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played in the English Football League. He is the head coach of club Bristol Rovers ...
for Rovers' maiden season in the
National League
National League often refers to:
*National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada
*National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...
. On 2 December 2014, after goalkeeper
Steve Mildenhall
Stephen James Mildenhall (born 13 May 1978) is an English former professional footballer who is goalkeeping coach at Swindon Town.
As a player he was a goalkeeper, he made almost 500 appearances in the Football League and over 500 games in total ...
was forced off with a knee injury in the 42nd minute of the match, and without a recognised goalkeeper on the bench, McChrystal went in goal, keeping a clean sheet as Rovers earned a 0–0 draw away at
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 ...
. The season ended in success for Rovers as they returned to the Football League at the first time of asking, the first club to do so since 2005, defeating
Grimsby Town
Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system.
Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...
5–3 on penalties at
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...
after the club finished second in the regulation season.
Following their promotion back to League Two, McChrystal found first-team opportunities hard to come by at times with the defender making only ten appearances before February 2016. He featured heavily in the run-in however as Rovers gained momentum before a 92nd-minute winner from
Lee Brown against
Dagenham & Redbridge
Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club (), often known simply as Dagenham and abbreviated when written to Dag & Red, is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England that play in the , the sixth level of the En ...
on the final day of the season saw Rovers sneak into the final automatic promotion place, confirming back-to-back promotions for the club. Following promotion, McChrystal signed a new contract with the club.
On 10 March 2017, it was confirmed that McCrystal had left the club after 4 years.
Return to Ireland and coaching career
McChrystal signed for Crusaders on 18 July 2017.
Derry City announced on 4 July 2019, that they had signed McChrystal on a 1-year contract. In February 2021, McChrystal was appointed player-coach at Derry City, combining this role with the role of Under-13 Coach. McChrystal stayed on at the club as a first-team coach following his retirement. In December 2022, he assumed a new role as Professional Development Coach.
International career
He gained Schoolboy caps while at
St. Columb's College in his native Derry,
and added Under-18 caps whilst at Wolves.
He appeared nine times for
Northern Ireland's Under 21 team, making his debut on 18 August 2004 against Switzerland, with his last appearance coming almost two years later on 16 August 2006 against Romania.
Personal life
He holds a degree in Business Studies with Accounts.
Honours
;Derry City
*
League of Ireland Cup
The League of Ireland Cup, also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', was an annual knockout competition in men's football in Ireland. It was contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited clubs from the lower levels of the Irish footb ...
:
2008
2008 was designated as:
*International Year of Languages
*International Year of Planet Earth
*International Year of the Potato
*International Year of Sanitation
The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...
*
League of Ireland First Division
The League of Ireland First Division, also known as the SSE Airtricity League First Division for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. The division w ...
:
2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
;Bristol Rovers
*
Conference Premier play-offs:
2014–15
;Crusaders
*
NIFL Premiership
The NIFL Premiership, known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and Irish Premiership colloquially, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football L ...
:
2017–18
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:McChrystal, Mark
1984 births
Living people
Association footballers from Derry (city)
Men's association footballers from Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland men's under-21 international footballers
Men's association football defenders
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players
Bradford City A.F.C. players
Derry City F.C. players
Institute F.C. players
Partick Thistle F.C. players
Lisburn Distillery F.C. players
Tranmere Rovers F.C. players
Scunthorpe United F.C. players
Bristol Rovers F.C. players
Crusaders F.C. players
League of Ireland players
English Football League players
National League (English football) players
Scottish Football League players
Derry City F.C. non-playing staff
21st-century sportsmen from Northern Ireland
NIFL Premiership players