Michael Norbury (born 22 January 1969) is an English football forward. Norbury made nearly 100 appearances in 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 ...

although the majority of his career has been spent in minor leagues.

Early career

Norbury began his career in

non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

with

Ossett Town Ossett Town Association Football Club was an English football club based in Ossett in West Yorkshire. History Ossett Town AFC were formed in 1936 when, during a public meeting, the Mayor of the Borough of Ossett charged John Carter, a former ...

before entering the

with

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

in December 1989.Marshall Gillespie, ''The Northern Ireland Football Yearbook, 1996/97'', UTV Books, 1996, p. 203 However, he did not make an appearance at the club and soon returned to Ossett Town and then

Bridlington Town Bridlington Town Association Football Club is an association football club based in Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They were founded in 1918 and currently play in the . History The club was founded in 1918 as Bridlington Centr ...

. Norbury returned to the Football League with

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 ...

in February 1992 and played 26 league games for the club, fifteen of which were as a substitute. He moved to

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

that December and made 42 league appearances (32 starts, 10 substitute) for the club before moving on to

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

in November 1994, racking up 19 league starts and 8 substitute appearances. During his time at Belle Vue Norbury was loaned out to Linfield of the

Irish Football League Irish commonly refers to: * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the island and the sovereign state *** Erse (disambiguati ...

. He made a sole league appearance for them, starting in a 3–0 defeat at Glenavon.

Return to non-league

Norbury dropped out of the league by signing for

Stafford Rangers Stafford Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional English football team from Stafford which plays in the Northern Premier League Division One West. The team wear black and white stripes with black shorts. Stafford Rangers' rivals include ...

after being released by Doncaster Rovers. He subsequently signed for

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of English football league system. They replaced Halifax Town, who went i ...

where he discovered his goalscoring touch, hitting 14 goals in the 1997–98 season. Norbury would subsequently become known as a non-league

journeyman A journeyman is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that field as a fully qualified employee ...

and during two spells with

Hednesford Town Hednesford Town Football Club is a football club based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Keys Park. They won the FA Trophy in 2004. History The club was established in 1880 as a merger of t ...

became notorious for his physical style of play which saw him rack up a number of red cards. He joined Emley in summer 2001 and spent the 2001–02 season at the club before departing to join

Stocksbridge Park Steels Stocksbridge Park Steels Football Club is an English association football club based in Stocksbridge, South Yorkshire. They currently compete in the . The club was formed in 1986 after a merger between two clubs, and uses a yellow and blue hom ...

in June. He joined

Belper Town Belper Town Football Club is a football club based in Belper, Derbyshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Christchurch Meadow. The club are nicknamed the "Nailers" due to the town's nail-making industry. History The club ...

in October but was gone again less than a month later, signing for Ossett Albion.

Coaching

Norbury entered coaching in the later part of the 2000s, becoming player/assistant manager at

Goole Goole is a port town and civil parish on the River Ouse, Yorkshire, River Ouse in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The town's Historic counties of England, historic county is the West Riding of Yorkshire. At the 2021 United Kingdom censu ...

in 2005. Norbury's fiery temper was again to the fore in 2006 when, in this role, he received a six-year touchline ban for two consecutive counts of foul and abusive language and threatening behaviour towards referees. He and manager Nigel Danby resigned from their posts in September 2009. He was subsequently appointed manager of Worsbrough Bridge Athletic in October 2009, before leaving to become assistant manager at

Harrogate Railway Athletic Harrogate Railway Athletic Football Club is a football club based in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Station View. History The club was established in 1935 by employees of the London and Nort ...

in June 2010. In September 2013, he was appointed manager of Maltby Main. He resigned from Maltby in April 2015. In June 2015 he became manager of Glasshoughton Welfare, but resigned in November, becoming assistant manager at Armthorpe Welfare a few days later. He moved onto

in February 2016,Ossett boss Black appoints assistants
Non-League Yorkshire, 17 February 2016 and then returned to

in November 2017.Norbury swaps Ossett for Goole
Non-League Yorkshire, 3 November 2017

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norbury, Mick 1969 births Living people English men's footballers Ossett Town A.F.C. players Scarborough F.C. players Bridlington Town A.F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Linfield F.C. players Stafford Rangers F.C. players Halifax Town A.F.C. players Hednesford Town F.C. players Wakefield F.C. players Stocksbridge Park Steels F.C. players Belper Town F.C. players Ossett Albion A.F.C. players Goole A.F.C. players English Football League players NIFL Premiership players National League (English football) players Footballers from Hemsworth English football managers Worsbrough Bridge Athletic F.C. managers Maltby Main F.C. managers Glasshoughton Welfare A.F.C. managers Men's association football forwards