Mark Reynolds (born 7 May 1987) is a former Scottish professional footballer who played as a defender. He began his career at Motherwell and has also played for Sheffield Wednesday, Aberdeen, Dundee United and Cove Rangers.
Club career Motherwell Born in Motherwell, Scotland, Reynolds started his career at Hibernian, where his Dad was working at the time when he was somewhere 9 or 10 years old. Reynolds then joined hometown club Motherwell when he was sixteen years old and progressed through the club's youth system. Reynolds then signed a two–year contract youth training scheme with Motherwell following the intervention of manager Terry Butcher. During the 2005–06 season, he was promoted to the club's first team and appeared as an unused substitute, in a 1–1 draw against Dunfermline Athletic on 28 January 2006. On 3 May 2006, Reynolds made his professional debut for Motherwell, starting a match and played 80 minutes before being substituted, in a 1–0 win over relegated Livingston.
Ahead of the 2006–07 season, newspaper The Herald expected Reynolds to make a first team breakthrough at Motherwell. On 12 August 2006, he made his first appearance of the season, starting the whole game, in a 2–0 loss against Aberdeen. Since the start of the season, Reynolds became a first team regular, forming a centre–back partnership with Stephen Craigan. On 30 September 2006, he scored his first goal of the season, in a 5–0 win over Kilmarnock. Reynolds then signed a four–year contract with the club. On 16 December 2006, he scored his second goal of the season, in a 3–2 loss against Dundee United. His performance attracted interests from Rangers. Reynolds' performance through April saw him named the league's Young Player of the Month for April. After returning from international duty, he received a red card for handball, in a 4–1 loss against Dunfermline Athletic on 7 May 2007. But Reynolds made his return to the starting line–up, in a 0–0 draw against Dundee United in the last game of the season. At the end of the 2006–07 season, he went on to make forty–one appearances and scoring two times in all competitions.
In the 2007–08 season, Reynolds continued to be a first team regular and remained partnering with Craigan in the centre–back position. His performances led to both him and David Clarkson, signed a contract extension, keeping him at Motherwell until 2011. He helped the club keep three consecutive clean sheets between 10 November 2007 and 1 December 2007. By the end of November, Reynolds signed a one–year contract with Motherwell, keeping him until 2011. On 5 April 2008, he helped the club keep a clean sheet, in a 1–0 win against defending champions, Celtic. After the match, newspaper Glasgow Times praised Reynolds' performance, saying: "He was fantastic at the heart of the Motherwell defence and Stephen Craigan wasn't far behind him." At the end of the 2007–08 season, Reynolds played in every league match, as he made forty–four appearances in all competitions.
It was reported on 5 June 2008 that Rangers had made an offer of £750,000 for Reynolds, which was turned down by Motherwell. It came after when he was linked with a move away from the club. Then-Motherwell manager Mark McGhee explained that he wanted to retain the club's better players ahead of their UEFA Cup campaign. Reynolds stayed at Motherwell for another season and stated he would prefer to play in the English Premier League than join either of a Scotland's Old Firm clubs. Despite suffering a knee injury that saw him ruled out for an international duty with Scotland, Reynolds returned to the starting line–up, in a 1–1 draw against Dundee United on 23 August 2008. In a match against Celtic on 13 September 2008, he was at fault for his role, leading to Scott McDonald to score the third goal of the game, in a 4–2 loss. Reynolds went on to make his European debut, playing in both legs against AS Nancy in the first round of the UEFA Cup, as the club were eliminated from the tournament. He continued to remain in the first team, maintaining his partnership with Craigan in the centre–back position. On 1 November 2008, Reynolds played his 100th game for Motherwell, in a 2–0 Lanarkshire derby win over Hamilton Academical. He helped the club keep three consecutive clean sheets between 3 January 2009 and 18 January 2009. At the end of the 2008–09 season, Reynolds had made forty–two appearances in all competitions. Despite the criticisms for his performance during the season, he reflected on manager Mark McGhee, crediting him for putting his career on track from "the lowest point in his career".
In the 2009–10 season, Reynolds played in all six games of Motherwell's Europa League campaign where Motherwell was eventually eliminated by Steaua București. He helped the club keep three consecutive clean sheets between 29 August 2009 and 1 September 2009. Reynolds continued to remain in the first team, maintaining his partnership with Craigan in the centre–back position. But he also began to play in the holding midfield position under the management of Jim Gannon. On 26 September 2009, Reynolds scored his first goal of the season, in a 3–1 loss against Hibernian. He reflected on the 2009–10 season so far, saying: "I'm still only 22 but I feel like a veteran in that defence. I've been given more responsibility with the captain's armband and I'm trying to be more vocal but the team is so strong that we're all fighting for ourselves." On 12 December 2009, Reynolds scored his second goal of the season, in a 3–2 loss against Celtic. He, once again, helped Motherwell keep five consecutive clean sheets in the league between 16 January 2010 and 6 February 2010. Reynolds then helped the club keep three consecutive clean sheets between 13 February 2010 and 27 February 2010. On 13 March 2010, he scored his third goal of the season, in a 3–1 win against Heart of Midlothian. A month later on 13 April 2010, Reynolds scored his fourth goal of the season, in a 2–1 loss against Celtic. At the end of the 2009–10 season, he went on to make forty–six appearances and scoring four times in all competitions.
Throughout the summer transfer window of 2010, Reynolds was linked with a move away from Motherwell, as clubs from Europe, such as, Bari, Nottingham Forest and PSV Eindhoven were interested in signing him. Manager Craig Brown admitted the club need to sell Reynolds to improve their finances. On 31 August 2010, it was reported that Swansea City had put in a bid for the defender, which was turned down by Motherwell as it did not meet their valuation for the player, who was in the final year of his contract. Following the end of the summer transfer window, he remained at the club throughout the first half of the season. At the start of the 2010–11 season, Reynolds played in all six Motherwell's European matches in the UEFA Europa League, winning both matches against Breiðablik and Aalesunds before the club was eliminated by Odense BK. He continued to remain in the first team, maintaining his partnership with Craigan in the centre–back position. On 14 December 2010, Reynolds scored an own goal in a 2–1 loss against Hearts. On 1 January 2011, he played his 200th game for Motherwell in a Lanarkshire derby, as the match ended in a 0–0 draw. When the January transfer window opened, Reynolds continued to be linked a move away from the club. By the time he left Motherwell, Reynolds made twenty–seven appearances in all competitions. He also went on to play more than 200 games for Motherwell,
Sheffield Wednesday An offer of £100,000 plus additional clauses from Sheffield Wednesday was accepted on 15 January 2011. The deal was completed a day later. After his move, Reynolds said he had made the right decision to join the club and was looking forward to making an impact in English football. Reynolds also stated that a reason for joining the Owls was to play in front of 20,000 supporters.
He made his debut for the club, starting a match and played 76 minutes before being substituted, in a 2–2 draw against Yeovil Town on 25 January 2011. In his first half-season, Reynolds made seven appearances for Sheffield Wednesday in all competitions. The 2011–12 season saw Reynolds find himself out of the first team and began to struggle to get his place back. He made only ten league appearances for the club throughout 2011.
Ahead of the 2012–13 season, Reynolds was told by Sheffield Wednesday manager Dave Jones that he was surplus to requirements and won't get first team guarantee, Upon returning to the Owls from his second loan spell with Aberdeen, he left Sheffield Wednesday by mutual consent on 31 January 2013.
Aberdeen (loan spells) On 6 January 2012, Reynolds was loaned out to Scottish Premier League club Aberdeen for the rest of the 2011–12 season, joining up with manager Craig Brown who had previously been his manager at Motherwell.
Having been brought in as a replacement for Richard Foster, he made his debut for the club, starting the whole game, in a 0–0 draw against Kilmarnock on 14 January 2012. Reynolds helped Aberdeen keep three consecutive clean sheets between 28 January 2012 and 19 February 2012. Since joining the club, he became a first team regular, forming a centre–back partnership with Andrew Considine. Reynolds then played twice against his former club on 11 March 2012 and 17 March 2012, as Aberdeen won in the Scottish Cup and loss in the league respectively. On 2 May 2012, he scored an own goal early on in a game with Hibernian at Pittodrie, which the visitors went on to win 2–1. At the end of the 2011–12 season, Reynolds had made twenty–one appearances in all competitions.
On 9 August 2012, Reynolds returned to Aberdeen on loan for the 2012–13 season. Upon arriving for the second time, Reynolds said he joined Aberdeen instead of Rangers as "it's a strange situation there at the moment", as the Glasgow team had been re-admitted to the third tier of the Scottish leagues. Reynolds played his first match of his second loan spell as a substitute in a 2–1 win over St Johnstone on 18 August 2012. Since joining the club on loan for the second time, he continued to remain in the first team, maintaining his partnership with Considine and Russell Anderson. On 3 November 2012. Reynolds scored an own goal, in a 2–1 loss against Ross County. A week later on 10 November 2012, he scored his first goal for Aberdeen, in a 4–1 win over St Mirren. The following month, Aberdeen chief executive Duncan Fraser announced that the club had opened negotiations to sign Reynolds on a permanent deal, with a possible three-year contract on the table. Throughout his second loan spell at Aberdeen, Reynolds made twenty–eight appearances and scored once in all competitions.
Aberdeen (permanent transfer) On 31 January 2013, Reynolds immediately rejoined Aberdeen on a free transfer, signing a four-and-a-half-year contract.
Reynolds' first game after signing for the club on a permanent basis came on 3 February 2013, in a 1–0 loss against Hibernian in the last 16 of the Scottish Cup. In a follow–up match against St Mirren, he received a red card for a second bookable offence, in a 0–0 draw. After serving a one match suspension, Reynolds returned to the starting line–up against Kilmarnock on 9 March 2013. At the end of the 2012–13 season, he went on to make forty–one appearances and scored once in all competitions.