Mark Howard (footballer, born January 1986)

Mark Howard
Personal information
Full name Mark James Howard[1]
Date of birth (1986-01-29) 29 January 1986
Place of birth Salford, England
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Playing position Centre-back
Club information
Current team
 Oklahoma City Energy (assistant)
Youth career
Barr Hill Lads Club
000?–2004 Manchester United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2004–2006 Manchester United 0 (0)
2006–2008 Brøndby 67 (1)
2009–2012 AGF 51 (2)
2014 Oklahoma City Energy 19 (1)
Teams managed
2015- Oklahoma City Energy (assistant)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23 March 2015.

† Appearances (goals)

Mark James Howard (born 29 January 1986) is an English football coach and former player. He works as an assistant coach for American club Oklahoma City Energy,[2] for whom he played for a season before retiring from playing.

Career

Born in Salford, Greater Manchester, Howard attended Hope High School, Salford, with fellow Manchester United players Phil Bardsley and Mark Redshaw. Howard began his career playing for the Barr Hill Lads Club in Salford. He signed for Manchester United as a junior player, and played a number of years in the youth and reserve teams of the club. Having failed to make an impact in the first team, Howard was amongst seven United players given a free transfer at the end of the 2005–06 season.[3]

Howard moved to Danish Superliga champions Brøndby IF, that had recently hired Manchester United reserve team coach René Meulensteen as manager. Howard participated in training sessions and played a friendly match against German team 1. FC Nuremberg, before signing a three-year contract with Brøndby on 28 July 2006.[4] He made his senior debut for Brøndby in August 2006, and played 13 of 18 league games as Brøndby finished in seventh place after the first half of the 2006–07 Superliga season.

When Meulensteen left the club in January 2007, new manager Tom Køhlert brought in Danish defender Mikkel Bischoff in contention for Howard's place in the central defence. When Bischoff suffered an injury, Howard proved himself once again and continued in the starting 11 for the rest of the season. He was also a part of the Brøndby team which won the 2006–07 Royal League cup on 15 March 2007. In the final match of the cup, Howard received a penalty kick, which Martin Ericsson converted to a goal, securing Brøndby a 1–0 win over F.C. Copenhagen.

Having secured his place in the starting eleven during the first half of the 2007–08 season, Howard was awarded the player of the year in Brøndby on 1 December 2007. On 10 December 2008, he signed a three and a half year contract with AGF.

Howard signed with the Oklahoma City Energy on 11 March 2014 for an undisclosed amount until the end of the year. On 29 June 2014 he scored his first goal in America and was named in the team of the week for his performances [5]

Honours

Club

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Search 1984 to 2006 – Birth, Marriage and Death indexes". Findmypast.com. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
  2. ↑ "Howard announces retirement". energyfc.com. 23 March 2015.
  3. ↑ "Released by Manchester United". ManUtd.com. 24 May 2006. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  4. ↑ "Howard er nu Brøndbyspiller" (in Danish). Brondby.com. 27 July 2006. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
  5. ↑ "Usl Pro Team of the week". 1 July 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2014.

External links

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