Michael Gash
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Michael Edward Gash (born 3 September 1986) 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 lea ...
who is player manager for
National League 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 League (English footb ...
side Peterborough Sports, where he plays as a
centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...
. For most of his career, he has played as a striker. Gash's nomadic career has seen him play primarily in the
Football Conference The National League of English Football Clubs is a professional Association football, football league in England that consists of 72 teams, divided equally between the National League (division), National League North and National League South ...
, though he finally made the step up to 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 ...
with
Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) *Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...
in 2015.


Club career

Gash was born in
Rinteln Rinteln () is a small town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located on the banks of the Weser river north of the Porta Westfalica. The town of Rinteln is in the broad valley between the hills of the Weserbergland and the North Lippe Bergland. In ...
, Germany as his father was stationed there as a head teacher in the British Army. Gash began his career in the
youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...
of Cambridge City, making his first-team debut on 7 October 2003 when starting and scoring in a 12–0 home win over Waterbeach in the
Cambridgeshire Invitation Cup The Cambridgeshire Invitation Cup is the senior county cup competition of the Cambridgeshire County Football Association. Established in 1950,Blakeman, M (2010) ''The Official History of the Eastern Counties Football League 1935–2010, Volume I ...
. Upon establishing himself in the first team, a one-in-three strike rate in the 2005–06 season saw him join city rivals
Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...
for 2006–07.Player profile: Michael Gash
/ref> In September 2006, Gash was loaned back to the Lilywhites, having failed to hold down a first-team spot. After one season with the U's, in which he scored only two goals, Gash re-joined City on a permanent basis in July 2007. The 2007–08 season saw Gash flourish in the Conference South, scoring 27 goals in all competitions. City's demotion to the Southern League hastened his departure from the Lilywhites, and he was sold to
Ebbsfleet United Ebbsfleet United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Northfleet, Kent, England. The club compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1946 from the merger ...
in August 2008 in a deal worth £20k plus a sell-on fee. Gash's second crack at the top division of non-league football was more successful, as he scored 11 times across the course of the season, which again saw him attract transfer interest. In July 2009, MyFootballClub members voted (94.2% for, 5.8% against) to sell Gash to an unnamed bidder in a deal worth £55,000, this bidder later turned out to be
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 ...
. The deal also included a 20% sell-on, 30% of which would go to Cambridge City, who received £7,000 from the sale to the Minstermen. Gash's spell in Yorkshire proved to be disappointing, with only 8 goals in 63 games in all competitions, though he was called up to the England C squad in September 2010. He was loaned to
Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town F.C., Ket ...
in December 2010, where he was far more successful, scoring six times in 19 games. In June 2011, Gash re-joined
Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...
on a free transfer. After an unspectacular 2011–12 season, in which he scored 7 goals in 42 games, Gash was loaned to Braintree Town in August 2012. Following his return from loan, Gash was far more prolific, scoring 15 times in 30 games, which attracted interest from other clubs in the league – a bid from an unnamed club was rejected in January 2013. He joined
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 ...
on loan in March 2013 for the rest of the season. Director of football Jez George said, immediately following the loan agreement, that loaning out Gash was the best scenario financially for the U's, with Gash's salary demands scuppering chances of agreeing a new contract at the Abbey Stadium. Gash joined the Harriers permanently at the end of the season on a two-year deal after scoring six times in 11 games for Kiddy – taking his league tally for the season to 21 overall, making him the joint-second top scorer in the division. He scored 22 goals in 72 games for the U's. Gash scored 15 goals in 42 games during his first full season as a Kidderminster player, including two goals in a 4–2 win over Newport County in the
FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...
second round, which earned him the Player of the Round award from
The Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...
, as well the opener in their away upset win over
Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...
in round three. The following season, Gash scored only three goals in 17 games between August and November and was loaned out to Nuneaton Town with Harriers needing to reduce their wage bill. He scored only once in 11 games for the Boro, and following the expiry of his loan, left Kidderminster by mutual consent in January 2015. Six days later, Gash joined
Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) *Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...
, despite manager
Martin Allen Martin James Allen (born 14 August 1965) is an English football manager and former player. He played more than 100 games as a midfielder for both Queens Park Rangers and West Ham United before finishing his playing career with Portsmouth and ...
stating that "He has got an attitude, there is no doubt about it, and I do not think it is always a good one... I told him straight exactly what his position would be – it would be sub." Less than a month later, following his performance in a home win over
Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...
, Allen then said that "He is a better player than I thought, to be honest. I always thought he was half decent but in training the last couple of weeks he has lost a lot of weight and improved his level of fitness. He is a tremendous character around the group and he is a good player." Gash signed a new one-year deal at Barnet for the 2015–16 season. He 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 against
Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...
on 8 August 2015. Following four goals in five games in September, Gash was named League Two Player of the Month. In August 2016, Gash injured his
cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint, wrist joint and the atlanto-axial joint. In a fashion similar to the cords in ...
, putting him out for the rest of the season, and he was released following the expiry of his contract. In an effort to get his career back on track, he signed for King's Lynn Town of the seventh tier of the
English football pyramid The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the ...
in July 2017. After 14 goals in his first season, in which the Linnets lost the
Southern Football League The Southern League is a football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from East Anglia, the South and Midlands of England, and South Wales. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven a ...
play-off final to Slough Town, Gash scored nine league goals in his second season and followed this up with a goal in the Southern League Premier Central play-off final win against
Alvechurch Alvechurch ( ) is a large village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Bromsgrove (district), Bromsgrove district in northeastern Worcestershire, England, in the valley of the River Arrow, Worcestershire, River Arrow. The Lickey H ...
, and then scored the winner in extra time in the super play-off against Warrington Town to secure promotion to the
National League 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 League (English footb ...
. After four seasons at the club that included back-to-back promotions as King's Lynn reached the fifth tier of English football for the first time, Gash departed the club at the end of the
2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...
season, citing his full time job as a tree-surgeon as the reason for not wanting to continue his time with the club. In his last match for the club he scored in a dramatic 4–4 draw with
Aldershot Town Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spr ...
. Gash signed for Southern League Premier Division Central side Peterborough Sports on 8 June 2021. Following a recommendation from his great friend and mentor, Jonny Hansen, Gash took the vacant managerial role at Sports alongside former
Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
and Panathinaikos goalkeeper Luke Steele.


International career

Gash was capped once by the England national C team, in a 2–2 away draw with
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
on 5 September 2010.


Career statistics


Honours

Barnet *
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 ...
: 2014–15


References


External links


Michael Gash profile
at the official
Barnet F.C. Barnet Football Club () is a professional association football club based in London Borough of Harrow, North West London. The team currently competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. The club was foun ...
website * * at UpThePosh! {{DEFAULTSORT:Gash, Michael 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Rinteln Footballers from Lower Saxony English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Cambridge City F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Ebbsfleet United F.C. players York City F.C. players Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players Braintree Town F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players Nuneaton Town F.C. players Barnet F.C. players King's Lynn Town F.C. players Peterborough Sports F.C. players Eastern Counties Football League players National League (English football) players English Football League players Southern Football League players England men's semi-pro international footballers English football managers Peterborough Sports F.C. managers 21st-century English sportsmen