Mark Little (footballer)

Mark Little

Personal information
Full name	Mark Daniel Little [1]
Date of birth	(1988-08-20) 20 August 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth	Worcester, England
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.87 m) [2]
Position(s)	Right back
Team information
Current team	Penybont
Number	2
Youth career
2004–2005	Wolverhampton Wanderers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2005–2010	Wolverhampton Wanderers	27	(0)
2008	→ Northampton Town (loan)	17	(0)
2008	→ Northampton Town (loan)	9	(0)
2009–2010	→ Chesterfield (loan)	12	(0)
2010	→ Peterborough United (loan)	9	(0)
2010–2014	Peterborough United	148	(3)
2014–2017	Bristol City	88	(1)
2017–2019	Bolton Wanderers	30	(1)
2019–2021	Bristol Rovers	16	(0)
2021–2022	Yeovil Town	19	(0)
2022–	Penybont	51	(0)
International career
2006–2007	England U19	6	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22 April 2024

Mark Daniel Little (born 20 August 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays for Cymru Premier club Penybont as a defender.

Career

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Born in Worcester and educated at Nunnery Wood High School, Little began his career as a youth player in Wolves' Academy and played a major role in the side who made it to the last four of the FA Youth Cup in 2005. He signed a three-year professional contract in August 2005 and had become a regular in the reserve side by the end of the 2005–06 season, and featured as an unused substitute for the first team throughout April 2006.

He made his first team debut in the League Cup at Chesterfield on 23 August 2006. ^[3] This was followed by his league debut off the bench (on the opposite flank at left-back) at Leeds United on 10 September 2006. ^[4]

Little went on to feature regularly throughout the season but didn't manage to continue this in the 2007–08 campaign. He was sent out on loan to League One side Northampton Town for a month in January 2008, ^[5] later extended to three months. ^[6] After beginning the following season with his parent club, but without breaking into the first team, he again returned to Sixfields on loan until the end of October. ^[7] In late 2009, Little went out on loan again, this time for two months at League Two side Chesterfield. ^[8]

Peterborough United

In March 2010 Little joined Championship strugglers Peterborough United on loan for the remainder of the season. ^[9] After he was not offered a new contract at Wolves, ^[10] Little signed for Peterborough in a three-year deal on 25 May 2010.

Bristol City

On 5 June 2014, Little left Peterborough after turning down a new contract offer. On 25 June 2014 it was confirmed Little would join Bristol City on a three-year contract from 1 July 2014. ^[11] Little was part of the Bristol City squad that won League One (securing promotion to the Championship) and the Football League Trophy (meaning Little had been part of the winning side of the cup competition for two years running), scoring City's second goal and winning man of the match in the final of the latter. ^{[12] [13]} He was a regular starter in the Championship for Bristol City under Steve Cotterill and later, Lee Johnson.

Bolton Wanderers

His contract with Bristol City was not renewed after the 2016–17 season and he joined Bolton Wanderers. ^[14]

Bristol Rovers

On 4 June 2019, Little joined Bristol Rovers on a free transfer. ^[15] He scored his first goal for Rovers when he scored in an EFL Trophy tie against Swindon Town on 13 November 2019. ^[16] In February 2021, Little spoke out about racial abuse that he had received in response to a post he made on Instagram, joining a host of footballers to have received racial abuse on social media in early 2021 as there were calls for social media companies to tackle abuse with real-life consequences. ^[17] It was announced at the end of the 2020–21 season that Little's contract would not be renewed and he would be leaving the club. ^[18]

Yeovil Town

On 25 June 2021, Little agreed a deal to join National League side Yeovil Town. ^[19] At the end of the 2021–22 season, Little was released by Yeovil following the expiry of his contract. ^[20]

Penybont

On 3 June 2022, Little joined Cymru Premier club Penybont following his release from Yeovil. ^[21]

Career statistics

As of end of 2021–22 season

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Wolverhampton Wanderers	2006–07 [22]	Championship	26	0	3	0	1	0	1 [a]	0	31	0
	2007–08 [23]	Championship	1	0	0	0	0	0	—		1	0
	2008–09 [24]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2009–10 [25]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	Total		27	0	3	0	1	0	1	0	32	0
Northampton Town (loan)	2007–08 [23]	League One	17	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	17	0
	2008–09 [24]	League One	9	0	0	0	2	0	1 [b]	0	12	0
	Total		26	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	29	0
Chesterfield (loan)	2009–10 [25]	League Two	12	0	1	0	0	0	1 [b]	0	14	0
Peterborough United (loan)	2009–10 [25]	Championship	9	0	0	0	0	0	—		9	0
Peterborough United	2010–11 [26]	League One	35	0	4	0	1	0	4 [c]	1	44	1
	2011–12 [27]	Championship	35	1	1	0	2	0	—		38	1
	2012–13 [28]	Championship	40	1	1	0	2	0	—		43	1
	2013–14 [29]	League One	38	1	4	0	2	0	7 [d]	0	51	1
	Total		157	3	10	0	7	0	11	1	185	4
Bristol City	2014–15 [30]	League One	37	1	3	0	0	0	3 [b]	1	43	2
	2015–16 [31]	Championship	23	0	2	0	0	0	—		25	0
	2016–17 [32]	Championship	28	0	2	0	4	0	—		34	0
	Total		88	1	7	0	4	0	3	1	102	2
Bolton Wanderers	2017–18 [33]	Championship	28	1	1	0	2	0	—		31	1
	2018–19 [34]	Championship	2	0	1	0	1	0	—		4	0
	Total		30	1	2	0	3	0	—		35	1
Bristol Rovers	2019–20 [35]	League One	11	0	3	0	0	0	2 [b]	1	16	1
	2020–21 [36]	League One	5	0	0	0	1	0	1 [b]	0	7	0
	Total		16	0	3	0	1	0	3	1	23	1
Yeovil Town	2021–22 [37]	National League	19	0	0	0	—		1 [e]	0	20	0
Career total			375	5	26	0	18	0	21	3	440	8

1. Appearance in the Championship play-offs
2. Appearances in the Football League Trophy
3. One appearance in the Football League Trophy and three in the League One play-offs
4. Five appearances in the Football League Trophy and two in the League One play-offs
5. Appearance in FA Trophy

Honours

Peterborough United

• Football League One play-offs: 2011
• Football League Trophy: 2013–14 ^[38]

Bristol City

• Football League One: 2014–15 ^[38]
• Football League Trophy: 2014–15 ^[38]

References

1. "Club list of registered players: As at 19th May 2018: Bolton Wanderers" (PDF). English Football League. p. 7. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
2. "Mark Little player profile". Bristol Rovers F.C. Archived from the original on 26 January 2021. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
3. "Chesterfield 0–0 Wolves". BBC Sport. 23 August 2006.
4. "Leeds 0–1 Wolves". BBC Sport. 10 September 2006.
5. "Northampton sign Wolves defender". BBC Sport. 10 January 2008.
6. "Wolves defender stays at Cobblers". BBC Sport. 11 February 2008.
7. "Little leaves Wolves for Cobblers". BBC Sport. 22 August 2008.
8. "Chesterfield sign Wolves defender". BBC Sport. 5 October 2009.
9. "Peterborough United loan Wolves defender Mark Little". BBC Sport. 2 March 2010.
10. "Wolverhampton Wanderers release trio of squad players". BBC Sport. 14 May 2010.
11. "Bristol City: Mark Little and Wade Elliott agree deals". BBC Sport. 25 June 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
12. "Football League Trophy final: Bristol City 2-0 Walsall". BBC Sport. 22 March 2015.
13. "Bristol City 0-0 Coventry City". BBC Sport. 18 April 2015.
14. "Mark Little: Bolton Wanderers agree two-year deal for former Bristol City right-back". BBC Sport. 16 June 2017.
15. "Mark Little: Bristol Rovers sign Bolton Wanderers right-back on free transfer". BBC Sport. 4 June 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
16. "Bristol Rovers 1-0 Swindon Town RECAP: Reaction as Gas qualify from EFL Trophy group stage". bristolpost.co.uk. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
17. "Bristol Rovers: Police investigate Mark Little racist abuse on social media". BBC Sport. 8 February 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
18. "Retained List for 2021/22 Season Announced". Bristol Rovers F.C. 13 May 2021.
19. "Experienced Little boosts the backline". Yeovil Town F.C. 25 June 2021.
20. "Club News | Released/retained list". Yeovil Town F.C. 3 June 2022. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
21. @PenybontFC_ (3 June 2022). "✍️ We're glad to announce the signing of Mark Little who will join us upon expiry of his contact at @YTFC. Mark is an experienced defender with over 200 appearances in the EFL for Bristol Rovers, Bolton Wanderers, Bristol City, Peterborough and Wolves Welcome Mark! #BONT🟦" (Tweet). Retrieved 6 June 2022– via Twitter.
22. "Games played by Mark Little in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
23. "Games played by Mark Little in 2007/2008". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
24. "Games played by Mark Little in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
25. "Games played by Mark Little in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
26. "Games played by Mark Little in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
27. "Games played by Mark Little in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
28. "Games played by Mark Little in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
29. "Games played by Mark Little in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
30. "Games played by Mark Little in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
31. "Games played by Mark Little in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
32. "Games played by Mark Little in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
33. "Games played by Mark Little in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
34. "Games played by Mark Little in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
35. "Games played by Mark Little in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
36. "Games played by Mark Little in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
37. "Games played by Mark Little in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
38. "M.Little". Soccerway. Retrieved 7 June 2023.

External links

• Mark Little at Soccerbase
• Mark Little at Soccerway