Mark Gillespie (footballer)

Mark Gillespie

Gillespie playing for Carlisle United in 2015
Personal information
Full name	Mark Joseph Gillespie[1]
Date of birth	(1992-03-27) 27 March 1992 (age 32)[2]
Place of birth	Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)[3]
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team	Newcastle United
Number	29
Youth career
2000–2008	Newcastle United
2008–2010	Carlisle United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2010–2017	Carlisle United	161	(0)
2010–2011	→ Blyth Spartans (loan)	9	(0)
2017–2018	Walsall	23	(0)
2018–2020	Motherwell	57	(0)
2020–	Newcastle United	0	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:25, 7 March 2020 (UTC)

Mark Joseph Gillespie (born 27 March 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Newcastle United.

Club career

Early career

Gillespie was part of the academy setup at Newcastle United before moving to Carlisle United in 2008, at the age of 16. He started at Carlisle as a youth team player before graduating to the reserve team.

Carlisle United

On 20 February 2010, Gillespie was named as a substitute for Carlisle's League One match against Swindon Town due to an injury suffered by Lenny Pidgeley. He was on the bench for a further seven games before Pidgeley returned for the 2010 Football League Trophy final on 28 March 2010.

On 8 May 2010, the final day of the 2009–10 season, Gillespie made his professional debut in a win against Norwich City at Carrow Road after coming on as a late substitute. Gillespie therefore became the youngest keeper ever to represent Carlisle, at 18 years and 42 days, beating the previous record set by Tony Caig.

In the 2010–11 season, Gillespie joined Blyth Spartans, then in the Conference North, on a month-long loan. He made his first start against Eastwood Town on 16 October 2010, keeping a clean sheet. His loan was extended for a further two months before he returned to Carlisle.^[4] He made no appearances for Carlisle in either of the 2010–11 or 2011–12 seasons.

Gillespie made his first start for Carlisle in Carlisle's Football League Trophy tie against Preston North End on 4 September 2012.^[5] This ended a run of 146 consecutive starts for Adam Collin. Gillespie retained his place in the team the following Saturday, in a league fixture against Hartlepool United, after Carlisle manager Greg Abbott said that Gillespie and Collin were competing against each other for the goalkeeping position.^[5][6]

Gillespie was praised by Tottenham Hotspur boss André Villas-Boas and veteran keeper Carlo Cudicini after Carlisle slipped to a 3–0 defeat in a League Cup tie on 26 September. The praise was earned after Gillespie pulled off a string of fine saves to keep United in the match early on.^[7] Gillespie lost his place in the first team at the start of November 2012, after playing 13 consecutive games in two months, during which he conceded 23 goals and kept only one clean sheet (in a game against Crewe Alexandra on 18 September 2012).

He regained his place in the team one and a half months later in a 2–1 loss at Shrewsbury Town and retained it to make 37 appearances for the season. During the season, he extended his contract until the end of the 2014–15 season,^[8] while at the season's end, Collin departed the club for Rotherham United.^[9]

Gillespie's 2013–14 season was curtailed by a knee injury suffered in an FA Cup tie against Boreham Wood in November.^[10] He made no further appearances for Carlisle during the season, as the club was relegated to League Two.^[11]

Gillespie turned down a new contract from Carlisle on 7 June 2017, instead moving on to Walsall in League One.

Walsall

On 23 June 2017, Gillespie joined League One side Walsall on a two-year contract.^[12]

Motherwell

On 5 June 2018, Gillespie signed for Scottish Premiership club Motherwell on a two-year deal.^[13] He made his debut on 17 July 2018, in a Scottish League Cup group stage match at home to Edinburgh City,^[14] but was backup to Trevor Carson in league matches until November 2018 when Carson was ruled out with deep vein thrombosis.^[15] During the season Gillespie saved a penalty on four occasions; at home against Celtic,^[16] two in matches against St Johnstone,^[17][18] and at home to Livingston in the final game of the season.^[19] On 31 May 2020, Motherwell announced that Gillespie (who had been ever-present that season) would be leaving the club after his contract expired.^[20]

Newcastle United

On 3 July 2020, Newcastle United announced the signing of Gillespie on a three-year contract, returning to the club after twelve years.^[21] His first team action has been limited to three League Cup appearances in 2020/21 but has appeared on the bench, most notably in the League Cup Final in 2023 with Nick Pope suspended, Martin Dubravka cup-tied and Karl Darlow away on loan.

On 30 May 2024, the club announced it had extended the player's contract by a year.^[22]

Career statistics

As of 1 February 2023

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Carlisle United	2009–10[23]	League One	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	2010–11[24]	League One	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2011–12[25]	League One	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2012–13[26]	League One	35	0	0	0	1	0	1[a]	0	37	0
	2013–14[27]	League One	15	0	1	0	2	0	1[a]	0	19	0
	2014–15[28]	League Two	19	0	0	0	1	0	1[a]	0	21	0
	2015–16[29]	League Two	45	0	2	0	3	0	0	0	50	0
	2016–17[30]	League Two	46	0	2	0	2	0	2[b]	0	52	0
	Total		161	0	5	0	9	0	5	0	180	0
Blyth Spartans (loan)	2010–11	Conference North	9	0	0	0	—		2[c]	0	11	0
Walsall	2017–18[31]	League One	23	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	25	0
Motherwell	2018–19[32]	Scottish Premiership	27	0	1	0	1	0	—		29	0
	2019–20[33]	Scottish Premiership	30	0	4	0	6	0	—		38	0
	Total		57	0	5[d]	0	7[e]	0	0	0	67	0
Newcastle United	2020–21[34]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	3	0	—		3	0
	2021–22[35]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2022–23[36]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2023–24[37]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	3	0
Newcastle United U-21s	2021–22[35]	—	—		—		—		1[a]	0	1	0
Career total			239	0	10	0	19	0	8	0	287	0

1. Appearances in the Football League Trophy
2. Appearances in the League Two play-offs
3. Appearances in the FA Trophy
4. Appearances in the Scottish Cup
5. Appearances in the Scottish League Cup

Honours

Newcastle United

• EFL Cup runner-up: 2022–23^[38]

References

1. "2020/21 Premier League squads confirmed". Premier League. 20 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
2. "Mark Gillespie". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
3. Rollin, Glenda; Rollin, Jack, eds. (2012). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2012–2013 (43rd ed.). London: Headline Publishing Group. p. 449. ISBN 978-0-7553-6356-8.
4. "Blyth Spartans extend loan of Carlisle's Mark Gillespie". BBC. 11 November 2010.
5. "Carlisle United goalkeepers battle it out to be No1". News & Star. 7 September 2012. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
6. "Abbott dives into his Pool of young talent". News & Star. 10 September 2012. Archived from the original on 12 September 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2012.
7. "Spurs pair praise Carlisle Utd rookie keeper after game". News & Star. 27 September 2012. Archived from the original on 12 September 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
8. "Mark Gillespie signs new Carlisle United deal until 2014". BBC. 13 December 2012.
9. "Rotherham United sign Richard Brindley and Adam Collin". BBC. 23 May 2013.
10. "Carlisle United: Mark Gillespie could miss next two months". BBC. 12 November 2013.
11. "Gillespie can make his mark on new-look Carlisle United side". News and Star. 12 September 2014. Archived from the original on 12 September 2014.
12. "Walsall sign former Carlisle goalkeeper on two-year deal". BBC Sport. 23 June 2017.
13. "Mark Gillespie: Motherwell sign goalkeeper on two-year deal". BBC Sport. 5 June 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
14. Jackson, Will (17 July 2018). "Motherwell 5 - 0 Edinburgh City: Frear nets first-half hat-trick". The Scotsman. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
15. Trevor Carson: Motherwell goalkeeper on cancer, DVT & working hard in the gym, BBC Sport, 5 February 2019
16. Mullen, Scott (5 December 2018). "Motherwell 1–1 Celtic". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
17. Sutherland, Jonathan (15 December 2018). "St Johnstone 1–2 Motherwell". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
18. McLauchlin, Brian (30 March 2019). "Motherwell 3–0 St Johnstone". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
19. Watt, Martin (18 May 2019). "Motherwell 3–2 Livingston". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
20. "END OF 2019/20 FIRST TEAM SQUAD UPDATE". motherwellfc.co.uk/. Motherwell F.C. 31 May 2020. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
21. "Magpies confirm signing of goalkeeper Mark Gillespie". nufc.co.uk/. Newcastle United F.C. 3 July 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2020.
22. Ryder, Lee (30 May 2024). "Howe hands Newcastle contract extension to 'hugely important' Gillespie". Chronicle Live. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
23. "Games played by Mark Gillespie in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
24. "Games played by Mark Gillespie in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
25. "Games played by Mark Gillespie in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
26. "Games played by Mark Gillespie in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
27. "Games played by Mark Gillespie in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
28. "Games played by Mark Gillespie in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
29. "Games played by Mark Gillespie in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
30. "Games played by Mark Gillespie in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
31. "Games played by Mark Gillespie in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
32. "Games played by Mark Gillespie in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
33. "Games played by Mark Gillespie in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
34. "Games played by Mark Gillespie in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
35. "Mark Gillespie | Football Stats | Newcastle United U21 | Season 2021/2022 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
36. "Mark Gillespie | Football Stats | Newcastle United U21 | Season 2022/2023 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
37. "Mark Gillespie | Football Stats | Newcastle United U21 | Season 2023/2024 | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
38. McNulty, Phil (26 February 2023). "Manchester United 2–0 Newcastle United". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 February 2023.

External links

• Mark Gillespie player profile Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine at carlisleunited.co.uk