Mark Anthony Beesley (born 5 December 1980) is an English former footballer who played as a striker. He is the manager of F.C. United of Manchester.
Career Born in Burscough, Lancashire, Beesley began his career at the youth system of Preston North End before signing a professional contract on 26 June 1999. He subsequently spent three and a half seasons at Chester City. Beesley scored 16 times in the 2001–02 season to help Chester avoid relegation from the Football Conference, but by the start of the 2003–04 he was out of favour with manager Mark Wright. After a spell out on loan at Southport, Beesley was allowed to join Chester's title rivals Hereford United in December 2003.
Beesley made 15 appearances for the club, scoring in Hereford's record-equalling 9–0 win over Dagenham & Redbridge, and against his former club in the 2–1 win over Chester. However, by this point Chester had sealed the Football Conference title at Hereford's expense and Beesley was to lose out in the play-offs to Aldershot Town.
He joined Forest Green Rovers on 8 June 2004 where he was initially unlucky with injuries, missing nearly an entire season with a knee injury. In August 2006 he returned to the north-west for a loan spell with Lancaster City, before returning to Forest Green, where he struck up a strong partnership with the prolific Stuart Fleetwood.
He signed for Cambridge United in January 2008 for a five-figure fee but never really enjoyed the form he had in his later stages at Forest Green. He was loaned to Chester City and AFC Telford United before being released by Cambridge manager Martin Ling at the end of the 2009–10 season.
He signed for newly promoted Conference Premier side Fleetwood Town on 29 July 2010. He joined fellow Conference Premier team York City on a one-month loan on 5 October and he made his debut later that day in a 1–0 defeat to Kettering Town. Beesley returned to Fleetwood early on 1 November after York manager Gary Mills decided to cut his loan short. He then joined Altrincham on loan until 3 January 2011 on 26 November and he made his debut a day later in a 4–0 defeat at Cambridge. After his loan spell expired, he signed permanently for Altrincham but was released at the end of the season.
In July 2011, Beesley signed for Northern Premier League Premier Division side Burscough, in his home town. He moved to promotion challenging Hednesford Town on 6 January 2012. He ended the 2011–12 season with Hednesford but left the club at the end of the season.
In June 2012, Beesley signed for Northern Premier League Premier Division outfit Nantwich Town. He left Nantwich on loan in October 2012 however and joined Warrington Town of the Northern Premier League Division One North and made his club debut on 30 October in a match against Ramsbottom United. In his next match, he scored his first goal for the club, as they beat Harrogate Railway Athletic 4–0 at home.
In February 2013, Beesley was released by Nantwich and later that month signed for Northern Premier League Division One North side Skelmersdale United. He left a few weeks later to join West Lancashire Football League Division One club Burscough Richmond in late February 2013.
Coaching Beesley was managing Burscough in 2016, but left in June of that year. He later joined Warrington Town as assistant manager to Paul Carden whilst also coaching at an academy run by Robbie Fowler. Beesley was appointed manager in December 2021, after Carden left to manage another club. In September 2024, Beesley announced his resignation following a poor start to the season.
On 21 September 2024, Beesley was appointed manager of Northern Premier League Premier Division side F.C. United of Manchester.
Career statistics
+ Club statisticsClubSeasonLeagueFA CupLeague CupOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsPreston North End1999–2000Second Division1000001Appearance in Associate Members' Cup020Chester City2000–01Appearances and goals for this season are taken from:Football Conference401251—7Three appearances and three goals in Conference League Cup, three appearances in FA Trophy, one appearance in Football League Trophy352162001–02Football Conference351600—2One appearance and one goal in Conference Shield, one appearance in FA Trophy137172002–03Football Conference19600—1Appearance in Football League Trophy02062003–04Football Conference3000—1040Total973451—11411339Southport (loan)2003–04NPL Premier Division5100—0051Hereford United2003–04Football Conference12200—3One appearance in FA Trophy, one in Football Conference play-offs0152Forest Green Rovers2004–05Conference National32922—1Appearance(s) in FA Trophy03592005–06Conference National16000—101702006–07Conference National31500—103252007–08Conference Premier231152—203013Total1022574—5011429Lancaster City (loan)2006–07Conference North5400—0054Cambridge United2007–08Conference Premier17700—1Appearance in Conference Premier play-offs01872008–09Conference Premier28420—103142009–10Conference Premier17200—30202Total621320—506913AFC Telford United (loan)2009–10Conference North6100—0061Fleetwood Town2010–11Conference Premier5000—0050York City (loan)2010–11Conference Premier3000—0030Altrincham (loan)2010–11Conference Premier3000—1040Altrincham2010–11Conference Premier15200—10162Career total316821450027435790
Managerial statistics
+ Managerial record by team and tenure TeamNatFromToRecord Warrington Town23 November 202121 September 2024 Career Total —
References
External links