Mark Crossley

Nottingham Forest

Crossley was born in Barnsley and began his career with Nottingham Forest in 1987 as a trainee. He started the 1988–89 season as fourth choice but Hans Segers and Paul Crichton were transferred in quick succession to Wimbledon F.C. and Peterborough United respectively, and when Steve Sutton fell ill, Crossley found himself thrust into the first team, playing in league wins over Liverpool and Newcastle United and a League Cup win over Coventry City before Sutton's return. He had a loan spell at Manchester United during the 1989–90 season but was never selected for the first team, although he played three times for the reserves. He had two spells in Forest's team in that season, firstly when Sutton was injured and later when Sutton suffered a loss of form. He was a huge favourite with the fans and indeed with Brian Clough, who affectionately nicknamed him 'shithouse' [1]. Despite being prone to occasional mistakes, he made over 300 appearances in thirteen years with the club, becoming first-choice 'keeper at the start of the 1990–91 season. This was strengthened by Steve Sutton's move to Derby County in 1992. Crossley played in the 1991 FA Cup Final loss to Tottenham Hotspur, where he saved a penalty from Gary Lineker. He missed a run of games towards the end of the 1991–92 season, including the Full Members Cup and Football League Cup finals against Southampton and Manchester United respectively due to a breach of club rules. Andrew Marriott wore…

In the summer of 2009 he joined Chesterfield as part of John Sheridan's new coaching team, as well as signing playing terms making him the club's second choice goalkeeper. In February 2011 Crossley announced he would be retiring from football at the end of the 2010–11 season. In July 2012 Crossley was approached by Birmingham City to become the club's new goalkeeping coach for the 2012–13 season, however the move fell through when Chesterfield could not agree on a compensation fee. Following John Sheridan's dismissal from Chesterfield, Crossley was appointed caretaker manager alongside Tommy Wright. In September 2012, despite having retired from playing in 2011, Crossley was named as an unused substitute in Chesterfield's 2–2 draw at York City, taking the number 26 shirt. He left Chesterfield on 29 April 2013. On 13 August 2013, Crossley joined Sheffield Wednesday as the Owls' academy goalkeeper coach. Crossley joined Barnsley on 27 March 2014 as a replacement for Ian Wilcox as new goalkeeping coach. Prior to the 2015–16 season, Crossley rejoined Chesterfield as a coach. On 21 June 2019, Crossley left the Notts County first-team coaching set-up. On 2 July 2019, Crossley rejoined Chesterfield as goalkeeper coach.

Crossley qualified to play for Wales through his Welsh grandfather. He was a regular in the Welsh international squad, but served as understudy to Neville Southall, and then Paul Jones. He started only eight games. His full international début came against the Republic of Ireland. His most memorable moment with the national team was Wales' 4–0 win over Scotland. Prior to representing Wales, Crossley played for the England U21 team in a tournament in Toulon, France, in 1990.

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International