Mark Higgins (footballer)

Mark Higgins
Personal information
Full name	Mark Nicholas Higgins
Date of birth	29 September 1958 (age 65)
Place of birth	Buxton, Derbyshire, England
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Position(s)	Centre-back
Youth career
1975–1976	Everton
Senior career*
Years	Team
1976–1985	Everton
1985–1987	Manchester United
1987	→ Bury (loan)
1987–1988	Bury
1988–1990	Stoke City
Total
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Last updated June 26, 2024

Mark Nicholas Higgins (born 29 September 1958) is an English former footballer who played at centre back for Everton, Manchester United, Bury and Stoke City.^[1]

Career

Born in Buxton, Derbyshire, Higgins is the son of former Bolton Wanderers's centre-back John Higgins.^[3] Higgins represented England schoolboys prior to signing for Everton.^[4]

Higgins joined Everton as an apprentice and earned his first team debut for the Toffees on 5 October 1976. He made a total of 183 appearances for the club, scoring 6 goals.^[5] Higgins later picked up a severe injury, which forced him to temporarily retire from the game in May 1984.

Defying all expectations, Higgins returned to the game 18 months later, when he joined Manchester United for £60,000 in December 1985. He made his Manchester United debut in a 2–0 home win over Rochdale in the FA Cup Third Round on 9 January 1986. However, he was unable to recover the form he had shown while with Everton and, after just eight appearances for United (six league, two cup), he was allowed to go on loan to Bury in January 1987 before the transfer was made permanent in February 1987 for a fee of £10,000.

At Gigg Lane Higgins played 82 times for the club in three seasons before joining Stoke City in September 1988.^[1] He played 37 times for Stoke in 1988–89 scoring once against Chelsea.^[1] In 1989–90 he played nine times for Stoke before being released at the end of the season. He then joined Burnley on trial but injured his back and decided to retire from playing.^[1] He now does stadium tours for Everton.

Career statistics

Source:^[6]

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other^[A]		Total
Club	Season	Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Everton	1976–77	First Division	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
	1977–78	First Division	26	1	1	0	5	0	0	0	32	1
	1978–79	First Division	20	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	22	1
	1979–80	First Division	19	0	0	0	5	0	2	0	26	0
	1980–81	First Division	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
	1981–82	First Division	29	3	1	0	2	0	0	0	32	3
	1982–83	First Division	39	1	5	0	2	0	0	0	47	1
	1983–84	First Division	14	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	19	0
	1984–85	First Division	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		152	6	7	0	19	0	4	0	182	6
Manchester United	1985–86	First Division	6	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	8	0
Manchester United	Total		6	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	8	2
Bury	1986–87	Third Division	22	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	24	0
	1987–88	Third Division	41	0	1	0	5	0	3	0	50	0
	1988–89	Third Division	5	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	8	0
	Total		68	0	1	0	8	0	5	0	82	0
Stoke City	1988–89	Second Division	33	1	3	0	0	0	1	0	37	1
	1989–90	Second Division	6	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	9	0
	Total		39	1	3	0	2	0	2	0	46	1
Career Total			265	7	13	0	29	0	11	0	318	7

A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Football League Trophy, Full Members' Cup and UEFA Cup.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Reid</span> English footballer, manager, and pundit

Peter Reid is an English football manager, pundit and former player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neville Southall</span> Welsh footballer

Neville Southall is a Welsh former international footballer. He has been described as one of the best goalkeepers of his generation and won the FWA Footballer of the Year award in 1985.

Leslie Mark Hughes is a Welsh football coach and former player who was most recently the head coach of Bradford City.

John Francis O'Shea is an Irish professional football coach and former player. He was known for his versatility in playing several defensive and midfield positions on either side of the pitch or the centre. O'Shea spent the majority of his playing career at Manchester United, where he won five Premier League titles, one FA Cup, two Football League Cups, four FA Community Shields, the FIFA Club World Cup and the UEFA Champions League. With 14 winners' medals, he is one of the most decorated Irish footballers of all time; only Denis Irwin, Roy Keane, Steve Heighway and Ronnie Whelan have accrued more honours. He is the current interim manager of the Republic of Ireland national football team.

David Watson is an English football manager and former professional player.

Brian Kidd is an English football coach and former player, who was most recently assistant coach of Manchester City, alongside manager Pep Guardiola.

Lee Michael Dixon is an English retired professional footballer and pundit who played as a right-back. Dixon was also capped 22 times for England.

John Gidman is an English former footballer who played for Aston Villa, Everton, Manchester United, Manchester City, Stoke City and Darlington. Gidman was a product of the Liverpool and Aston Villa academies.

Howard Kendall was an English footballer and manager.

Matthew Etherington is an English professional football manager and former player who is currently Under-21 lead coach at Colchester United. As a player, Etherington played as a winger, most notably in the Premier League for Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham United and Stoke City.

Darron Thomas Daniel Gibson is an Irish professional footballer who last played as a midfielder for League Two club Salford City, and formerly for the Republic of Ireland national team.

Philip Nikodem Jagielka is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is primarily known for his lengthy tenures at Sheffield United and Everton.

Glyn Peter Hodges is a Welsh football coach and former professional player who was most recently assistant manager at Bradford City.

Michael Reginald Thomas is a Welsh former footballer who played as a winger. At club level, he played for Wrexham, Manchester United, Everton, Brighton & Hove Albion, Stoke City, Chelsea, West Bromwich Albion, Derby County, Shrewsbury Town and Leeds United. As a Welsh international, he made 51 appearances and scored four goals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adrian Heath</span> English professional footballer and manager

Adrian Paul Heath is an English football manager and former player. He most recently served as head coach of Major League Soccer club Minnesota United FC until October 2023. As a player, he is best known for his six seasons at Everton, where he won two First Division titles and an FA Cup. As a manager, Heath initially worked in his native England before moving abroad to Orlando City, an expansion side in the American second division. Orlando City had the best start of any newly founded team in the history of American soccer, winning multiple honours before joining MLS in 2015.

Michael Nigel Sheron is an English football coach and former professional footballer who is under-23s head coach at Blackburn Rovers.

Marouane Fellaini-Bakkioui is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

Neil James Adams is an English former professional footballer and former manager who is the current technical director of EFL Championship club Norwich City.

James Broad was an English footballer who played as a forward for various Football League clubs in the 1910s and 1920s, including Oldham Athletic, Stoke and Everton. His brother Tommy was also a footballer.

The 2013–14 season was the 134th season of competitive football in England.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
↑ Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
↑ Tallentire, Becky (2002). Still talking blue : a collection of candid interviews with Everton heroes ([New ed.]. ed.). Edinburgh: Mainstream. ISBN 978-1840186642.
↑ "Mark Higgins interview". Blue Kipper. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
↑ "Everton Player Stats: Mark Higgins". Everton Stats. Everton FC. Archived from the original on 13 April 2017. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
↑ Mark Higgins at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)

External links

Profile at StretfordEnd.co.uk
Profile at MUFCInfo.com

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[The_Encyclopaedia_of_Stoke_City-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.

[2] Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 102. ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.

[3] Tallentire, Becky (2002). Still talking blue : a collection of candid interviews with Everton heroes ([New ed.]. ed.). Edinburgh: Mainstream. ISBN 978-1840186642.

[4] "Mark Higgins interview". Blue Kipper. Retrieved 18 March 2014.

[5] "Everton Player Stats: Mark Higgins". Everton Stats. Everton FC. Archived from the original on 13 April 2017. Retrieved 15 September 2012.

[6] Mark Higgins at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

Personal information
Full name	Mark Nicholas Higgins^[1]
Date of birth	(1958-09-29) 29 September 1958 (age 65)^[1]
Place of birth	Buxton, Derbyshire, England^[1]
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)^[2]
Position(s)	Centre-back
Youth career
1975–1976	Everton
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1976–1985	Everton	152	(6)
1985–1987	Manchester United	6	(0)
1987	→ Bury (loan)	0	(0)
1987–1988	Bury	68	(0)
1988–1990	Stoke City	39	(1)
Total		265	(7)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals