Mark Howard (footballer born January 1986)

Mark Howard

Personal information
Full name	Mark James Howard[1]
Date of birth	29 January 1986 (1986-01-29) (age 25)
Place of birth	Salford, England
Height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Playing position	Centre back
Club information
Current club	AGF
Number	3
Youth career
	Barr Hill Lads Club
000?–2004	Manchester United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2004–2006	Manchester United	0	(0)
2006–2008	Brøndby	45	(1)
2009–	AGF	48	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 3 November 2011. † Appearances (Goals).

Mark James Howard (born 29 January 1986) is an English footballer who plays for Danish Superliga side AGF as a defender. Mark has played with Wayne Rooney in his time at Manchester United, where he also knows another AGF-player Adam Eckersley from.

Mark Howard was in the season 2010/2011 elected by fans to AGF's hottest player.

Career

Born in Salford, Greater Manchester, Howard attended Hope High School, Salford, with fellow Manchester United players Phil Bardsley and Mark Redshaw. Howard began his career playing for the Barr Hill Lads Club in Salford. He signed for Manchester United as a junior player, and played a number of years in the youth and reserve teams of the club. Having failed to make an impact in the first team, Howard was amongst seven United players given a free transfer at the end of the 2005–06 season.^[2]

Howard moved to Danish Superliga champions Brøndby IF. Brondby had recently hired Manchester United reserve team coach René Meulensteen as manager. Howard participated in training sessions and played a friendly match against German team 1. FC Nuremberg, before signing a three-year contract with Brøndby on 28 July 2006.^[3] He made his senior debut for Brøndby in August 2006, and played 13 of 18 league games as Brøndby finished in seventh place after the first half of the 2006–07 Superliga season.

When Meulensteen left the club in January 2007, new manager Tom Køhlert brought in Danish defender Mikkel Bischoff in contention for Howard's place in the central defence. When Bischoff suffered an injury, Howard proved himself once again and continued in the starting 11 for the rest of the season. He was also a part of the Brøndby team which won the 2006–07 Royal League cup on 15 March 2007. In the final match of the cup, Howard received a penalty kick, which Martin Ericsson converted to a goal, securing Brøndby a 1–0 win over F.C. Copenhagen.

Having secured his place in the starting eleven during the first half of the 2007–08 season, Howard was awarded the player of the year in Brøndby on 1 December 2007. On 10 December 2008, he signed a three and a half year contract with AGF.

Honours

Club

• Danish Cup: 2007–08
• Royal League: 2007

Individual

• Brøndby Player of the Year: 2007

References

1. ^ "Search 1984 to 2006 – Birth, Marriage and Death indexes". Findmypast.com. http://www.findmypast.com/post84BMDSearchStart.action?redef=0&searchType=B. Retrieved 31 December 2009. 
2. ^ "Released by Manchester United". ManUtd.com. 24 May 2006. http://www.manutd.com/news/fullstory.sps?iNewsid=332758&itype=466&icategoryid=120/. Retrieved 17 April 2011. ^{[dead link]}
3. ^ "Howard er nu Brøndbyspiller" (in Danish). Brondby.com. 27 July 2006. http://www.brondby.com/article.asp?aid=38163&id=145/. Retrieved 17 April 2011. 

External links

• AGF profile
• Brøndby IF profile (Danish)
• official Superliga stats (Danish)
• Howard are AGF's hottest player (Danish)
• Former Manchester United men toast Danish success

Persondata
Name	Howard, Mark
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	29 January 1986
Place of birth	Salford, England
Date of death
Place of death