Mark Rivers (born 26 November 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 forward from 1994 until 2006 notably for

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

and

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

Career

Crewe Alexandra

Mark Rivers was a product of the Crewe Alexandra F.C. Academy, signing his first professional contract in May 1994. At the same time, he was loaned out to Norwegian 2. divisjon club

Sarpsborg FK Sarpsborg Fotballklubb is a Norwegian football club from Sarpsborg, Østfold. It was founded on 8 May 1903. Sarpsborg is one of the most successful teams in the Norwegian Football Cup, with six titles and twelve finals in total. In 2007, the cl ...

, and made his debut in the

cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

against Vålerenga. He was diagnosed with

mononucleosis Infectious mononucleosis (IM, mono), also known as glandular fever, is an infection usually caused by the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV). Most people are infected by the virus as children, when the disease produces few or no symptoms. In young adu ...

and left Sarpsborg in late June. Rivers made his Crewe debut on 4 October 1995 coming on as a substitute in an

EFL League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the English Football ...

second round tie against

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

at Hillsborough. He scored his first Crewe goal, again after coming on as a substitute, in Crewe's 8–0 win over

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

Gresty Road Gresty Road or the Alexandra Stadium, currently known as the Mornflake Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Crewe, Cheshire, England. The home ground of Crewe Alexandra, it has an all-seated capacity of 10,153. History C ...

. On his first league start, he scored twice in Crewe's 3–1 win over

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

. During the 1995–1996 season, he scored 14 goals in all competitions for his home town club. The following season he helped Crewe to a Second Division play-off final victory over Brentford that saw the club promoted to the second tier for the first time in its history. In the First Division, Rivers scored eight goals in 37 appearances for the Railwaymen during the 1997-98 season, and then scored ten goals in 48 appearances the following season. During the 1999–2000 season, he netted nine times in 36 appearances, followed by ten goals in 38 appearances in 2000–01. To this point, 25-year-old Rivers had scored 58 goals in 239 games for Crewe.Mark Rivers
''Soccerbase''. Retrieved: 18 May 2021.

Norwich City

In June 2001, Crewe and Norwich agreed a deal with an initial fee of around £500,000 for his transfer with Rivers signing a four year contract. Rivers made 37 appearances during Norwich's 2001–02 campaign as Norwich reached the play off final that season which was held at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium (), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium () for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it has a retractable roof and is the home of the Wales national rugby union team; it has ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

. Rivers had scored in the first leg of their play off semi-final against

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

in a 3-1 win at

Carrow Road Carrow Road is a association football, football stadium in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship club Norwich City F.C., Norwich City. The stadium is east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum. ...

. After the disappointment of losing the play off final to

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

on penalties, the 2002-03 season saw Rivers finish the campaign with 32 appearances and four goals. Rivers won the

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

title with Norwich in the 2003-04 season, sealing promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

. At the end of the season it was announced that Rivers had left the club by mutual consent. Norwich manager

Nigel Worthington Nigel Worthington (born 4 November 1961) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who was most recently the manager of York City. He played a defender and a midfielder, playing his club football for Ballymena United, Notts County ...

said that Rivers had been frustrated by a lack of first team opportunities and needed a move to get first team football.

Return to Crewe

After leaving Norwich, Rivers initially trained with their local rivals Ipswich Town, however a move didn't materialise and in the end he signed a two-year deal with his former club Crewe. Over the next one and a half seasons, he made 56 appearances for the Cheshire side, scoring 11 times.

Carlisle United

On 23 January 2006, Rivers signed for Carlisle United until the end of their 2005–06 season, making six appearances. He left by mutual consent on 28 April 2006.

Life after football

It was reported in 2012 that Rivers was setting up a chaffeur business.

Honours

; Crewe Alexandra *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

play-off final winner:

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

; Norwich City *

league winner: 2003-04 Football League First Division

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivers, Mark 1975 births Living people Footballers from Crewe English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Men's association football forwards Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Norwich City F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Sarpsborg FK players English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Norway English expatriate sportspeople in Norway English Football League players