Mark Howard | "It has been an up and down season but we are improving."

Mark Howard, born in Southwark, London, currently plays for Carlisle United. Howard started his youth career with Arsenal and spent a period of time out on loan with Falkirk during the early part of his career. He moved to Cardiff for the 2006 season and later was loaned out to local rivals Swansea City for the rest of the 06/07 season.

After his time in Wales, Mark made a move back to Scotland to spend time with both St Mirren and Abdeen which lasted just over 3 years. Mark began his return to English football by moving to the seaside, joining Blackpool for a couple seasons. But Howard’s most impressive stint came when he joined the Blades in January 2012. Over 100 appearances for Sheffield United and numerous great saves he really made the most out of his time at Bramall Lane.

After leaving south Yourkshire he went on to have other consistent runs with the likes of Bolton and a return to Blackpool. Mark played 35 games for Scunthorpe in the 20/21 season before moving to Carlise to play at Brunton Park.

You have had a great extensive career, is there a stand out game that comes to mind?

I’ve been asked about my most memorable game a few times and it’s always the same answer. It was the quarter final of the FA cup against charlton at Brammall lane for Sheffield United. We won the game two nil and by doing that meant we went to Wembley.

Having a few spells in Scotland, how would you compare the English game to the Scottish game in your experience?

Scottish football was and still is a great platform for different players during their career. For me it was important to play games when I was young that would have been a lot more difficult in England. It also made me grow up.

You spent your youth career at Arsenal, how was your time there?

My time at Arsenal was obviously amazing but it was for me just a great place to learn. I knew I would find it difficult to make it into the first team, looking back being there for 10 years went so fast.

Currently playing for Carlisle United, how has your time been at the club so far?

I’m thoroughly enjoying my time at Carlsile. It has been an up and down season but we are improving. We have had alot of inconsistency as a team which has led to a poor run recently. But we are working hard to improve this.