Mark Connolly

Bolton Wanderers

Connolly was signed from Wolverhampton Wanderers by Bolton Wanderers on the summer transfer deadline in 2009 after the clubs agreed a £1,000,000 fee. Wolves later reported Bolton and their assistant manager Chris Evans, a former academy director at Wolves, for an illegal approach for the player. Connolly later stated he was unaware of the transfer fee Bolton had paid. On the January transfer dealine day of 2010, Connolly signed on loan for St Johnstone until the end of the season. He made his debut on 27 March 2010 in the loss to Hamilton Academical. During the 2011–12 season, Connolly was captain of Bolton Wanderers's reserve team and was on the substitutes bench for the first team in their League Cup win against Macclesfield Town and he then joined Macclesfield on 24 February 2012, on a months loan, making his debut the following day in their 1–1 draw at Oxford United. On 15 May 2012, Connolly confirmed on his Twitter account that he had left Bolton. This was followed by confirmation from the club that Connolly was one of twelve players released following the club's relegation to the Championship.

Crawley Town

On 9 July 2012, Crawley Town announced that Connolly had signed for them on a two-year contract. Connolly later stated he joined Crawley because he wanted the chance to play first team football. Connolly made his debut on 14 August, starting in a League Cup match as a right-back against Championship side Millwall which ended 2–2,…

On 11 June 2026, Connolly was announced as Director of Football at his former club Derry City. On 5 August 2026, upon the sacking of manager Tiernan Lynch, Connolly was announced as interim manager of the club. In his first game in charge, he lead the side to a 2–0 victory over Sligo Rovers, describing the experience of managing the club as "an absolute honour".

Playing statistics

As of match played on 25 April 2026

Managerial statistics

As of 19 October 2026

Dundee United

Scottish Championship: 2019–20 Derry City

FAI Cup: 2022 President of Ireland's Cup: 2023 Coleraine

Irish Cup: 2025–26 Individual

League of Ireland Player of the Month: June 2022, PFAI Premier Division Team of the Year (2): 2022, 2024