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Name: Mark McChrystal
Born: 25 June 1984, Londonderry
Height: 6.01 ft
Weight: 13.07 st
Position: Defender
Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: 9 Under-21 Caps
(2004-2006), Under-19, Schoolboy
(2000)
Club Honours: (with Derry) FAI Cup Runner-Up
2008; League of Ireland Cup Winner
2008;
(with Bristol Rovers) Football Conference Play-Off Winner
2014/15.
Club Career:
Teams............. --Seasons-- Signed -Fee- -League- FA Cup FL Cup Europe Other
Tristar ............................. Youth
Wolverhampton W. .................... Youth ..0(0)/0
Bradford City .... 02/03 ..... Apr-03 .Loan ..0(0)/0
Derry City........ 2003 - 2006 Apr-03 .Free .50(-)/1* ............ 1(0)/0
Institute......... 03/04 ..... Aug-03 .Loan ..1(0)/0 ...... 4(0)/0 ...... 1(0)/0
Partick Thistle... 06/07 ..... Jan-07 .Free .13(2)/1 2(0)/0
Derry City ....... 2007 - 2009 Aug-07 .Free .34(5)/1
Huddersfield Town ............ Sep-09 Trial ..0(0)/0
Crewe Alexandra .............. Oct-09 Trial ..0(0)/0
Lisburn Distillery 09/10 ..... Nov-09 .Free ..3(0)/0
Derry City ....... 2010 ...... Jan-10 ..... .29(1)/3
Tranmere Rovers .. 10/11-12/13 Jan-11 .Free .38(3)/1 ...... 1(0)/0 ...... 2(0)/0
Scunthorpe United. 12/13 ..... Nov-12 .Loan ..3(0)/0
Bristol Rovers ... 12/13-16/17 Jan-13 .Free 107(7)/0 4(0)/0 1(0)/0 ...... ......8(0)/1
Crusaders ........ 17/18- date Jul-17 .Free
* All domestic games.
Biography:
In the early 2000s Wolves had a strong Northern Ireland contingent among their youth ranks - Sammy Clingan, Mark Clyde, Andrew Dickson and Mark McChrystal were all on the fringes of the senior team at Molineux.
A strapping left-sided centre-back, McChrystal had won Schoolboy caps while at St. Columb's College in his native Derry and added Under-18 honours while with Wolves. He was released by Wolves in 2003 and returned home to join Derry City. He initially struggled to make an impact at the Brandywell and for the start of the 2003/04 season made the short move to Institute on a three month loan. He played six times at right-back for
Stute before the loan spell was cut short by injury.
Back at Derry, McChrystal slowly established himself in the firstteam squad, filling in at left- or right-back as well as in his preferred central defencive role. He established himself in the Northern Ireland Under-21 team, becoming captain, even when not assured of a starting place with his club side.
McChrystal was released by Derry in December 2006 having been identified as surplus to requirements. Within a few weeks he was playing for Partick Thistle in the Scottish First Division. He made his
Jags debut in a 2-0 defeat by Clyde on 2nd January 2007 and was a regular through to the end of the season. He scored his only goal in a 4-3 defeat by Queen of the South as Partick almost came back from 4-0 down. McChrystal was released at the end of that season by new manager, Ian McCall.
McChrystal returned to Derry City in August 2007 and the following year he collected his first major honours, a winner's medal in the League Cup as Wexford Youths were routed 6-1 and a runners-up medal following an FAI Cup Final penalty shoot-out defeat by Bohemians.
In September 2009 McChrystal, unhappy with his limited firstteam chances after returning from a broken cheekbone, negotiated an early release from his Derry contract,
the Candystripes being only too happy to offload players as their financial straits became clearer. He joined Huddersfield on trial but after three weeks he was unable to secure the hoped for move. There followed another trial with Crewe which proved equally fruitless before he joined Lisburn Distillery on a short-term deal.
McChrystal returned to Derry City in January 2010 as the demoted side gained an instant return to the League of Ireland Premier Division. In January 2011 he joined Tranmere Rovers on a six-month deal.
Northern Ireland Under-21 Cap Details:
18-08-2004 Switzerland.... H D 0-0 FR
08-02-2005 Scotland....... H W 2-1 FR
16-08-2005 Rep. of Ireland H D 2-2 FR
06-02-2006 Israel......... A W 1-0 FR
28-02-2006 Wales.......... A W 1-0 FR
12-04-2006 Leichtenstein.. A W 4-1 ECQ
10-05-2006 Leichtenstein.. H W 4-0 ECQ
16-05-2006 Scotland....... H W 1-0 FR
16-08-2006 Romania........ A L 0-3 ECQ
Summary: 9/0. Won 6, Drew 2, Lost 1.
