Now no longer playing competitive football, Carlisle-born Mark Boyd can look back on an entertaining career.

It took him from Newcastle United to Port Vale, from Gretna to Accrington Stanley, and from Irish side Sligo Rovers to Droylsden.

And the 35-year-old also played for his fair share of Cumbrian clubs, including Carlisle United, Workington Reds and Barrow.

Boyd began his career at Carlisle United’s school of excellence as a youngster, before a move to Newcastle United.

“At 14 years old, I was just playing for the school and out of the [Carlisle] academy and I got spotted, and went for a trial. It went from there, really,” says the former midfielder on how his move to St James’ Park came about.

“I was there for six years, I think. It was a good way to start because you are learning your trade at the top level, so you are learning off a lot of internationals and things like that.

“It is a good base to start your career on and I had a lot of good coaches. Alan Irvine, Tommy Craig, Kenny Wharton – they coached me in my younger times.

“And then my last couple of years were with Sir Bobby Robson and Kenny Dalglish, so you are learning off the best, really.

“It gives you a good start to your career, really. I left there at 21 but I had a really good time at Newcastle and learnt a lot.”


Paul Simpson A spell at Port Vale followed, but by 2004, the Cumbrian was re-signed by manager Paul Simpson to return to hometown club Carlisle United.

Boyd says: “I was at Carlisle from seven or eight, I think. I used to go to the school of excellence on a Monday night.

“I was always with the older lads. I was about two or three years younger [than the others], so it started quite early for me.

“Once I had left at 14, to eventually came back and play for Carlisle was good.”

But the midfielder was returning to the Blues with the club in a tricky position.

He adds: “It wasn’t the best of times because we got relegated out of League Two.

“I came back for four months under Paul Simpson and I was under the impression I was going to get an extra year, but it never materialised.

“I was a bit disappointed in the way it finished with Carlisle because, in the four months I was here, my record in the 14 or 15 games I was here, wasn’t too bad.

“We had a decent finish to the season. Once Paul Simpson took over, he got the lads playing quite well and we got a few results, but it was just a little bit too late in the season to claw it back and stay up.

“It was disappointing to go down with your hometown team, it is not nice but it happened and I moved on.”

Two of Boyd’s former clubs, Gretna and Celtic Nation, had particularly ambitious plans – but neither club materialised quite in the manner they had threatened to do so.

Boyd admits: “They both could have been huge. But I’m a big believer you need supporters, as well.

“You need a good fanbase to progress and that was what was missing at Gretna and Celtic Nation.

“As much money as they threw about, Gretna had a certain base of fans where it wasn’t really going to grow because Gretna is a small place.

“And Celtic Nation were trying to get fans to come through the gates any way they could. But people from Carlisle support Carlisle, which is the way it should be.

“So, the crowds did go up a little bit but, behind the scenes of both clubs, money is the root of all evil – and people got a bit greedy, and they both ended up going bust, which is a shame.”

Brooks Mileson was the owner of Gretna but later died.

On the former Gretna owner, Boyd says: “Brooks Mileson was a great fella.

“He gave me my three-year contract. He was a great guy.

“He was too generous in the end, I think. He was generous to a fault. He would give anybody anything, and I think people took advantage of Brooks in the end.”

The former midfield man also had a spell in Ireland with Sligo Rovers.

On his time with that club, he says: “It was a good experience, living out of England in a different country.

“Everybody knows how friendly and jolly the Irish are, and that was right from when I was there.

“They couldn’t have made me feel more welcome. It was good to live there.”

But Boyd says his spell with Barrow probably ranks as the best in his footballing career.

He adds: “I was there for four or five years.

“We had a lot of success there, we won the Conference North, we won the FA Trophy at Wembley and we got in the FA Cup third round twice against two Premiership teams in Middlesbrough and Sunderland.

“Experiences like that, they will live with me forever because, going out in front of 25-30,000 fans in the FA Cup, as daunting as it is, it is the best experience in the world.

“Obviously, we were massive underdogs and lost both times 2-1 and 2-0.

“But they were great experiences to play against full internationals like Stewart Downing, Darren Bent and Jordan Henderson and players like that.”

Tony Hopper, one of Boyd’s former team-mates, who has been diagnosed with motor neurone disease, made an emotional appearance at Brunton Park last Saturday.

Boyd now commentates on former club Barrow, and occasionally Carlisle United, games for BBC Radio Cumbria and is enjoying his new role.

His last spell in football this season came at Hallmark Security League outfit Carlisle City.

“I tried to give it one last shot,” Boyd admits. “I mixed it in with my commentating. When I had a free Saturday, I went and had a game with Carlisle City.


James Tose “Again, great lads - James Tose and Jonny Allan are in charge, another two friends of mine. That is another reason I went down.

“It is a new league, a new challenge for them. It has been tougher than the Northern Football Alliance they were in.

“But they have done really well, you have got to give them credit because they have got a lot of miles to cover.

“You have got realise these lads are part-time and they all work and they have got to get off work.

“They do it for next to no money. They do love the game.

“But my last game, I think was playing against AFC Blackpool at home.

“It was on a Tuesday night and I was just not really playing to a level, in my own head, that I thought I could. I wasn’t enjoying it any more.

“I enjoy playing five-a-side with my mates. I enjoy playing the odd game on a Sunday and that’s me.”