Mark Pembridge

Mark Anthony Pembridge (born 29 November 1970) is a Welsh retired footballer who played as a midfielder, and a current coach at the academy for Fulham.

He played 333 matches in England's top division for Luton Town, Sheffield Wednesday, Everton and Fulham, scoring 25 goals. He also played for Derby County, and spent the 1998–99 season on loan at Benfica in Portugal.

Pembridge won 54 caps for Wales, and scored six goals, in a 13-year international career.

Club career

Early career

Pembridge began his career at Luton Town in the First Division. He joined as a trainee in 1989 and was sold to Derby County in 1992. During his time at Luton and Derby, Pembridge established himself as a left midfielder. He had three successful years at Derby but left for Sheffield Wednesday for a fee of £900,000. Pembridge played for Wednesday in the Premier League until 1998, when he left for Portuguese side Benfica on a free transfer after a disappointing season at Wednesday, who had finished 16th.

Everton

He struggled to settle in Portugal and returned to England after one season, signing a contract with top-flight side Everton for £800,000. Pembridge had a good first two seasons at Everton, with his tenacious approach and thrusting runs from deep establishing the Welshman as an integral part of Everton's squad, thus securing him an excellent rapport with the Goodison Park faithful. However, testing times were around the corner for Pembridge, with a persistent calf injury meaning he only played 13 games in the 2001–02 season. The injury still bothered him during the 2002–03 season, but Pembridge still played a part in a dramatic season, which ended in heartbreak as Everton failed to qualify for a UEFA Cup place.

Fulham

Pembridge looked set to stay at Everton for the 2003–04 campaign, but on the transfer deadline day in August 2003, he was signed by Fulham for £750,000 after four years at Everton. He had an injury free first season at Fulham during which he scored his first goal for the club against rivals Chelsea,^[2] and this was followed by a successful second season in which he played 37 games overall, scoring once in the League Cup against Birmingham.^[3] Pembridge missed most of Fulham's 2005–06 season through injury, and only played 5 games. It got worse for him when manager Chris Coleman deemed him surplus to requirements and he did not play a single game during the 2006–07 season. He was released by new manager Lawrie Sanchez at the end of the season. After this, Pembridge announced his retirement. Reflecting on his retirement, Pembridge quoted:

International career

Pembridge was called up to play for Wales while at Luton in 1991. He had several highlights while playing for Wales, including scoring arguably his best career goal against Ukraine in 2001 and reaching the qualifying playoffs for Euro 2004, despite narrowly losing to Russia. Pembridge quit the national team in 2004 shortly after John Toshack was named as the new Wales manager. He announced his international retirement in 2005, ending speculation that he might return to play for Wales. He played 54 times for Wales, scoring 6 goals.

Coaching career

On 4 September 2007, Fulham confirmed that Pembridge had stayed on at the club as a coach for the academy.^[4] He would later become Under-15s and U16s Coordinator for the club.^[5]

Career statistics

Source:^[6]

External links

• Mark Pembridge at thefinalball.com
  
• Mark Pembridge profile at Soccerway
• Mark Pembridge at National-Football-Teams.com

References