Mark McLeod (English footballer)

Mark McLeod (born 15 December 1986) is an English football midfielder who plays for Harrow Borough.

Mark McLeod
Personal information
Full name Mark McLeod[1]
Date of birth (1986-12-15)15 December 1986[1]
Place of birth Sunderland,[1] England
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
Darlington
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2005–2007 Darlington 6 (0)
2005 → Harrogate Town (loan)
2005 → Durham City (loan)
2006–2007 → Workington (loan)
2007 Östavalls IF
2007–2008 Newcastle Blue Star
2008–201? Sunderland RCA[lower-alpha 1] 37 (3)
201?–2013 Walton & Hersham
2013–2015 Chipstead
2015–2016 Harrow Borough[3] 30 (0)
2016 Aylesbury[4] 2 (0)
2016– Harrow Borough[5] 5 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:30, 22 December 2016 (UTC)

He made six appearances for Darlington in the Football League,[6] played in Sweden for Östavalls IF, and his other non-league clubs include Harrogate Town, Durham City, Workington, Newcastle Blue Star, Sunderland RCA, Walton & Hersham, Chipstead and Aylesbury.

Life and career

McLeod was born in Sunderland. He began his football career with Darlington, and captained their youth team.[7] He spent time on loan to Harrogate Town of the Conference North[8] and to Northern League club Durham City[9] before making his first-team debut for Darlington on 18 March 2006, replacing Jonjo Dickman after 80 minutes of a 5–0 home defeat against Carlisle United in League Two.[10] He made what the Evening Gazette described as "an impressive full debut" two weeks later as Darlington beat Lincoln City 4–2.[11] He signed a professional contract at the end of the season.[12] He played four matches in the first couple of months of the 2006–07 season,[13] and then spent time on loan with another Conference North club, Workington.[14]

McLeod was not retained for 2007–08,[15] and he and former Darlington teammate Richard Logan played in Sweden for lower-league club Östavalls IF.[16] On his return, he joined Newcastle Blue Star, managed by Tommy Cassidy for whom he had played at Workington,[17] while completing his A-Levels at South Tyneside College.[18] He went on to take a degree in economics at York University,[19] and played for the university football team,[20] and for Sunderland RCA of the Northern League when his studies allowed.[21]

After graduating, McLeod worked in London as a civil servant in the Cabinet Office. A friend suggested he resume playing football on a part-time basis, and he joined Walton & Hersham of the Isthmian League Division One South.[19] Since then, he has also appeared for Isthmian League clubs Chipstead and Harrow Borough, with a brief interlude at Aylesbury.[22]

Style of play

McLeod describes himself as "a sitting midfielder, not really a box-to-box type. I'm good at breaking up play, but I don't play football just to run around and make tackles. I do like to get on the ball and play a bit as well, so the part where we actually have the ball is my favourite bit." In contrast, his Harrow Borough manager, Steve Baker, signed him to "bring physicality. He can play, too, which is great, but he can put his foot in, he's physical and every other team seems to have one like that, so we want one here."[19]

Notes
  1. The Sunderland RCA website has detailed statistics up to and including the 2010–11 season, but not thereafter. Consequently, if subject played for the club after that season, his statistics are missing from the infobox.[2]

References
  1. "Mark McLeod". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  2. "Sunderland RCA FC – 2008–09 appearances summary" (PDF) and "goals scored" (PDF). Sunderland RCA F.C. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
    "Sunderland RCA FC – 2009–10 appearances summary" (PDF) and "goals scored" (PDF). Sunderland RCA F.C. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
    "Sunderland RCA FC – 2010–11 appearances summary" (PDF) and "goals scored" (PDF). Sunderland RCA F.C. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  3. "First team – the team: Mark McLeod: 2015/16 season". Harrow Borough F.C. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  4. "Aylesbury FC – the team: Mark McLeod: 2016/17 season". Aylesbury F.C. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  5. "First team – the team: Mark McLeod: 2016/17 season". Harrow Borough F.C. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  6. "Darlington: 1946/47–1988/89 & 1990/91–2009/10". Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Players Database. Neil Brown. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  7. "Players tackle treatment". Evening Gazette. Middlesbrough. 25 April 2005. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  8. "Altrincham FC Archived News 28 March to 2 April 2005". Altrincham F.C. 2 April 2005. Retrieved 1 October 2014.
  9. Pratt, Malcolm (17 December 2005). "Arngrove Northern League". The Journal. Newcastle upon Tyne – via Infotrac Newsstand.
  10. "Games played by Mark McLeod in 2005/2006". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  11. Wilkinson, Andrew (3 April 2006). "Strikers revive Quaker hopes". Evening Gazette. Middlesbrough. p. 44 – via Infotrac Newsstand.
  12. "Youngsters handed Quakers deals". BBC Sport. 30 March 2006. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  13. "Games played by Mark McLeod in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  14. Walsh, John (24 November 2006). "Reds sign Darlington teenager". News and Star. Carlisle. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  15. "Quakers release retained list". Darlington F.C. 18 May 2007. Archived from the original on 22 December 2016. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  16. "På slutsignalen: Östavalls IF–Ånge IF" [At the final whistle: Östavalls IF–Ånge IF]. Sundsvalls Tidning (in Swedish). 8 August 2007. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  17. Pratt, Malcolm (22 September 2007). "Football: UniBond League". The Journal. Newcastle upon Tyne – via Questia.
  18. "Future looking bright as students make the grade". Shields Gazette. 14 August 2008. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  19. Batham, Jon (29 July 2015). "New Harrow Borough signing is more than a 'midfield enforcer'". Brent & Kilburn Times. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  20. "Roses 2011: Sunday – As it happened". Nouse: the University of York student newspaper. 15 May 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  21. "SkillTrainingLtd Northern League". The Journal. Newcastle upon Tyne. 10 April 2010. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
  22. "Mark McLeod". aylesburyunitedfc.co.uk. Aylesbury United FC and Luke Buckingham Brown. Retrieved 22 December 2016.
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