Mark Cullen (footballer, born 1992)

Mark Cullen (born 21 April 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for League Two club Port Vale.

Mark Cullen
Personal information
Full name Mark Cullen[1]
Date of birth (1992-04-21) 21 April 1992[2]
Place of birth Ashington, England
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.76 m)[3]
Playing position(s) Striker
Club information
Current team
 Port Vale
Number 13
Youth career
????–2006 Newcastle United
2008–2010 Hull City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010–2013 Hull City 24 (1)
2011 → Bradford City (loan) 4 (0)
2011–2012 → Bury (loan) 4 (0)
2012 → Bury (loan) 10 (1)
2013 → Stockport County (loan) 16 (4)
2013–2015 Luton Town 71 (21)
2015–2019 Blackpool 89 (21)
2019 → Carlisle United (loan) 9 (0)
2019– Port Vale 18 (5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:00, 7 March 2020 (UTC)

A former Newcastle United youth-team player, he went on to graduate from the Hull City Academy and make his Premier League debut for the club in the 2009–10 season. He spent the next three seasons on loan at Bradford City, Bury and Stockport County, before taking a free transfer move to Luton Town in May 2013. Luton won promotion back into the English Football League as champions of the Conference Premier at the end of the 2013–14 season and he was sold on to Blackpool for a fee of £180,000 in June 2015 after a successful season in League Two. Blackpool were relegated out of League One the next year, but secured an immediate promotion after Cullen scored the winning goal in the 2017 League Two play-off Final. He then struggled with injuries over the next two years, spending time on loan at Carlisle United, before he was allowed to move on to Port Vale in June 2019.

Career

Hull City

Born in Ashington, Northumberland,[2] Cullen spent his early years at Newcastle United's Academy before he was released from St James' Park at the age of 14.[4] He joined the Hull City youth system on a two-year scholarship in June 2008.[5] He made his first-team debut as a 67th-minute substitute for Kamel Ghilas in a 4–1 defeat to Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup third round on 2 January 2010.[6] He was given a place in the team after scoring 27 goals for the youth team in the 2009–10 season.[7] He made his Premier League debut on 24 April, when he came on as a substitute for George Boateng in the 75th-minute of a 1–0 defeat to Sunderland at the KC Stadium.[8] He scored his first goal in senior football in his first start for the "Tigers", in a 2–2 draw at Wigan on 3 May.[9] He then went on to start in Hull's last game of the 2009–10 season, a 0–0 home draw with Liverpool.[10]

Cullen scored his second and final goal for Hull in a 2–1 League Cup second round defeat by Brentford on 24 August 2010.[11] He made 17 Championship appearances in the 2010–11 season and in January 2011, Cullen, along with fellow youth team graduate Tom Cairney, signed a new contract with the club until the summer of 2013.[12] A few days later, Cullen joined League Two club Bradford City on a one-month loan; manager Peter Taylor had originally enquired about Cullen the previous year but at the time instead opted to sign Ryan Kendall.[13][14] He played four games for the "Bantams" before returning to Hull.[15]

At the start of the 2011–12 season, Cullen was loaned to League One club Bury for six months.[16] However he made only four appearances for the "Shakers" before returning to Hull in January 2012.[17] He featured in four Championship games for Hull in the month of March, but was otherwise absent from Nick Barmby's first-team plans.[17] On 7 August 2012, Cullen returned to Bury for a further loan period on the same day that manager Richie Barker left Gigg Lane.[18] He played in 12 games, scoring once in a 2–2 draw with Stevenage.[19][20] His loan spell was brought to an end on 18 October following a shin injury.[21] On 31 January 2013, Cullen went out on a month-long loan to Stockport County in the Conference Premier.[22] This was later extended until the end of the 2012–13 season.[23] Cullen scored two goals in a 2–0 win over Barrow on 12 March.[24] He scored a total of four goals in 16 games at Edgeley Park as Ian Bogie's "Hatters" were relegated into the Conference North.[25] In contrast, Hull won promotion back to the Premier League at the end of the season, however manager Steve Bruce allowed Cullen to leave on a free transfer after deciding not to offer the 21-year old a new contract.[26]

Luton Town

On 17 May 2013, Cullen signed for Conference Premier club Luton Town on a two-year contract.[27] He scored his first goals for the club in a 3–2 win over Lincoln City on 21 September.[28] Cullen was primarily used as a substitute for much of the 2013–14 season as the goalscoring form of Andre Gray and Paul Benson kept him out of the starting lineup. He came on as a substitute against Cambridge United to score a 90th minute "stunning" equaliser that kept Luton 15 points clear of their nearest title rivals on 11 March.[29] Cullen regained a place in the starting line-up towards the end of the season, scoring three goals in five games as Luton won promotion to League Two.[30] Cullen played 36 times and scored 10 goals in all competitions during the season,[31] and in May 2014, he signed a new three-year contract to keep him at Kenilworth Road until the end of 2016–17.[32]

Cullen was promoted to a regular starting place in the team for the 2014–15 season after Luton sold Andre Gray. He was named as League Two Player of the Month for October after scoring five goals, including a "perfect hat-trick" – scoring with his head, left foot and right foot – in a 3–1 victory over Dagenham & Redbridge.[33] However manager John Still revealed that the striker had expressed a wish to leave the club in February and an unnamed club made an approach to take him in on loan.[34][35] Cullen stated that he wished to play at a higher level and also wanted to move further north to be closer to his family.[36] He played in 47 games in all competitions, scoring 14 goals to end the campaign as Luton's top-scorer.[37]

Blackpool

On 30 June 2015, Cullen signed for League One club Blackpool on a three-year deal, who paid Luton a transfer fee of £180,000.[38] Manager Neil McDonald said that "he's an inter-link player who can go in behind and has said he will even play wide if he needs to" and set him a target of 20 goals for the upcoming campaign.[39] Cullen scored both goals in a 2–2 draw with Colchester United on his debut on 8 August.[40] He ended the 2015–16 season as the "Tangerines" top-scorer with nine goals in 43 games and Blackpool were relegated down to League Two. He scored 13 goals from 40 appearances in the 2016–17 campaign, again leaving him as the "Seasiders" top-scorer; this tally included a hat-trick against former club Luton Town in the first leg of the play-off semi-finals at Bloomfield Road.[41] Blackpool eliminated Luton and Cullen went on to score the winning goal as Blackpool beat Exeter City 2–1 in the League Two play-off final at Wembley Stadium.[42]

He was restricted to just nine appearances in the 2017–18 season after undergoing surgery to resolve a hamstring injury.[43] He signed a new one-year contract with Blackpool in May 2018, with the club retaining the option of a further year.[44] However he suffered a stress fracture on his leg in November.[43] He joined League Two club Carlisle United on 28 January 2019 on loan until the end of the 2018–19 season.[45] Carlisle manager Steven Pressley said that Cullen rejected the chance to join a League One club in order to go to Brunton Park, but admitted that the striker was still two weeks away from full fitness.[46] He made his first start for the "Cumbrians" at Colchester United on 23 February, and Pressley said that the side was weakened after he was taken off for fitness reasons on 69 minutes.[47] His injury problems continued after he suffered a grade two tear in his groin, which kept him out of action for six weeks.[43] He ended his loan spell without scoring for the "Blues" in three starts and six substitute appearances.[43] He left Blackpool after manager Terry McPhillips opted not to take up the option to extend Cullen's contract by a further 12 months; he was the club's longest serving player at the time of his departure.[48] He was a linked with a return to Bradford City, who were managed by former Blackpool boss Gary Bowyer.[49]

Port Vale

On 26 June 2019, Cullen signed a one-year contract with League Two club Port Vale.[50] He described the move as a "fresh start" following a long spell struggling with injuries as the club entered a new era with new owners in Carol and Kevin Shanahan, and a new manager in John Askey.[51] He scored in his first start at Vale Park, converting from the penalty spot in a 2–1 defeat to Burton Albion in the EFL Cup on 13 August.[52] He found first-team opportunities limited at the start of the 2019–20 season, but nevertheless boasted a record of four goals from four starts and six substitute appearances after a brace against Newcastle United U21 in the EFL Trophy on 12 November.[53] He again dropped down the pecking order, before replacing a suspended Tom Pope to score a brace in a 3–0 home win over Colchester United on 15 February to earn himself a place on the EFL team of the week.[54] He signed a new one-year contract after he ended the campaign with eight goals in 25 appearances.[55]

Style of play

Stockport County assistant manager Stuart Watkiss described Cullen as "an out-and-out goalscorer" whose "finishing is the best part of his game".[43]

Career statistics
As of match played 7 March 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Hull City 2009–10[56] Premier League 311000—41
2010–11[57] Championship 1700011—181
2011–12[17] Championship 401000—50
2012–13[20] Championship 0010——10
Total 2413011—282
Bradford City (loan) 2010–11[57] League Two 40———40
Bury (loan) 2011–12[17] League One 40———40
2012–13[20] League One 101—101[lower-alpha 1]0121
Total 141—1010161
Stockport County (loan) 2012–13[31] Conference Premier 164———164
Luton Town 2013–14[31] Conference Premier 29821—5[lower-alpha 2]13610
2014–15[37] League Two 42134110004714
Total 71216210518324
Blackpool 2015–16[58] League One 419101000439
2016–17[59] League Two 27940108[lower-alpha 3]44013
2017–18[60] League One 9000000090
2018–19[61] League One 12311201[lower-alpha 4]0164
Total 892161409410826
Carlisle United (loan) 2018–19[61] League Two 90———90
Port Vale 2019–20[62] League Two 18510115[lower-alpha 4]2258
2020–21[63] League Two 0000000000
Total 185101152258
Career total 245531638220728965
  1. Appearance in Football League Trophy
  2. Appearances in FA Trophy
  3. Five appearances in EFL Trophy, three appearances and four goals in League Two play-offs
  4. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy

Honours

Individual

Luton Town

Blackpool

gollark: For IPv6 I *believe* proper support is a requirement.
gollark: No, it's definitely the APIs' fault for making no sense for UDP.
gollark: `tcpdump` showed that there weren't even any packets on my ethernet interface, so WHO EVEN KNOWS.
gollark: Or, well, responded to packets sent using `socat` locally fine but not remote ones.
gollark: Anyway, things confusongly failed with useless output like "OS error 22" and when I randomly reordered the socket setup calls to fix it, it *appeared* to work but did nothing.

References
  1. "EFL: Club retained and released lists published". English Football League. 23 June 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  2. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 102. ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0.
  3. "Mark Cullen". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  4. Headspeath, Andrew. "Hull City's Mark Cullen: Newcastle United rejection gave me motivation to succeed | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  5. "Mark signs for Hull City and hopes to make England debut". News Post Leader. Morpeth. 16 June 2008. Retrieved 11 March 2017.
  6. "Wigan 4–1 Hull". BBC Sport. 2 January 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  7. "Hull City: Bright future lies ahead (Video)". Hull Daily Mail. 4 January 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  8. Sheringham, Sam (24 April 2010). "Hull 0–1 Sunderland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
  9. Bevan, Chris (3 May 2010). "Wigan 2–2 Hull". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
  10. Reekie, Harry (9 May 2010). "Hull 0–0 Liverpool". BBC Sport. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  11. "Brentford 2–1 Hull". BBC Sport. 24 August 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  12. "Defender Andy Dawson agrees new Hull City extension". BBC Sport. 3 January 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
  13. "Bradford City agree new loan deals with trio". BBC Sport. 6 January 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
  14. Parker, Simon (6 January 2011). "Bradford City loan capture Cullen not fazed by basement switch". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  15. "Loan duo leave the Bantams". Bradford City A.F.C. 7 February 2011. Archived from the original on 27 March 2012.
  16. "Bury sign Hull City striker Mark Cullen on loan". BBC Sport. 20 July 2011. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  17. "Games played by Mark Cullen in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  18. "Bury complete signings of Craig Jones and Mark Cullen". BBC Sport. 7 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  19. "Stevenage 2–2 Bury". BBC Sport. 29 September 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2016.
  20. "Games played by Mark Cullen in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  21. "Tigers recall striker Cullen". Sky Sports. 18 October 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  22. "Jon Macken & Mark Cullen join Stockport County". BBC Sport. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
  23. "Connor and Meaney out; Cullen loan extended". Stockport County F.C. 1 March 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  24. "Barrow 0–2 Stockport". BBC Sport. 12 March 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  25. Browne, Gavin (8 May 2013). "Stockport County boss Ian Bogie fires a promotion warning". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  26. "Still swoops for striker". www.lutontown.co.uk. 17 May 2013. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  27. "Hatters snap up Hull striker Cullen". Luton Today. 17 May 2013. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  28. "Luton 3–2 Lincoln City". BBC Sport. 21 September 2013. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  29. Wood, Mark (13 March 2014). "Stunning volleyed equaliser caps brilliant month for new dad Cullen". Luton Today. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  30. "Luton Town return to the Football League after five-year exile". The Guardian. London. 15 April 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  31. "M. Cullen: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
  32. Simmonds, Mike (15 May 2014). "Cullen signs three year deal". Luton Today. Archived from the original on 25 September 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  33. "Mark Cullen named Sky Bet League 2 Player of the Month". www.efl.com. 7 November 2014. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  34. "Mark Cullen: Luton Town striker wants to leave - John Still". BBC Sport. 23 February 2015. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  35. Simmonds, Mike (23 February 2015). "Cullen still a Hatter as his value isn't met". Luton Today. Retrieved 24 September 2016.
  36. Simmonds, Mike (9 July 2015). "Cullen opens up about Luton exit". Dunstable Today. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  37. "Games played by Mark Cullen in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  38. "Mark Cullen joins Blackpool for £180,000". Luton Town F.C. 30 June 2015. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
  39. "McDonald Backs Cullen To Succeed". www.blackpoolfc.co.uk. 2 July 2015. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  40. "Colchester United 2–2 Blackpool". BBC Sport. 8 August 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  41. Middleton, Nathan (14 May 2017). "Blackpool 3-2 Luton Town". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  42. Law, James (28 May 2017). "Blackpool 2–1 Exeter City". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  43. Baggaley, Michael (26 June 2019). "Who is Mark Cullen? All about Port Vale's new striker". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  44. Scrafton, Matt (8 May 2018). "Mark Cullen signs new deal with Blackpool". Blackpool Gazette. Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  45. "Mark Cullen: Blackpool striker joins Carlisle United on loan". BBC Sport. 28 January 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  46. Colman, Jon (28 January 2019). "Steven Pressley says "proven scorer" Mark Cullen rejected League One club to join Carlisle Utd". News and Star. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  47. Colman, Jon (26 February 2019). "Steven Pressley expects key frontman Mark Cullen to build on his full Carlisle Utd debut". News and Star. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  48. Scrafton, Matt (26 June 2019). "Former Blackpool striker Mark Cullen bags move to League Two side". Blackpool Gazette. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  49. Parker, Simon (13 May 2019). "Bantams boss eyeing striker Cullen". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  50. "Mark Cullen and Ryan Lloyd: Port Vale bring in duo on one-year deals". BBC Sport. 26 June 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  51. Baggaley, Michael (27 June 2019). "Port Vale striker so keen to get started". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  52. "Port Vale 1-2 Burton Albion". BBC Sport. 13 August 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
  53. Baggaley, Michael (13 November 2019). "'There's not much more I can do...' - Mark Cullen hoping for Port Vale chance". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  54. Baggaley, Michael (17 February 2020). "Joey Barton manages Port Vale ace in EFL team of the week". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  55. Baggaley, Michael (4 July 2020). "Mark Cullen becomes latest player to sign new contract at Port Vale". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  56. "Games played by Mark Cullen in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  57. "Games played by Mark Cullen in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
  58. "Games played by Mark Cullen in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  59. "Games played by Mark Cullen in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  60. "Games played by Mark Cullen in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  61. "Games played by Mark Cullen in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  62. "Games played by Mark Cullen in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  63. "Games played by Mark Cullen in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  64. Anderson, John, ed. (2014). Sky Sports Football Yearbook 2014–2015. London: Headline Publishing Group. pp. 636–637. ISBN 978-1-4722-1251-1.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.