Mark Higgins (footballer)

Mark Higgins

Personal information
Full name	Mark Nicholas Higgins[1]
Date of birth	29 September 1958[1]
Place of birth	Buxton, Derbyshire, England[1]
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Playing position	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)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

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.^[2] Higgins represented England schoolboys prior to signing for Everton.^[3]

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.^[4] 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]

Career statistics

• Sourced from The English National Football Archive

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other^[A]		Total
		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
	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.

References

1. Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
2. Tallentire, Becky (2002). Still talking blue : a collection of candid interviews with Everton heroes ([New ed.]. ed.). Edinburgh: Mainstream. ISBN 978-1840186642.
3. "Mark Higgins interview". Blue Kipper. Retrieved 18 March 2014.
4. "Everton Player Stats: Mark Higgins". Everton Stats. Everton FC. Retrieved 15 September 2012.

External links

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