| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mark Gerard Connolly[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1991-12-16)16 December 1991 (age 33)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Clones, Ireland | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[2] | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Monaghan United | |||
| –2009 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | ||
| 2009–2010 | Bolton Wanderers | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2010–2012 | Bolton Wanderers | 0 | (0) |
| 2010 | →St Johnstone (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 2012 | →Macclesfield Town (loan) | 7 | (0) |
| 2012–2014 | Crawley Town | 69 | (3) |
| 2014–2016 | Kilmarnock | 36 | (4) |
| 2016–2019 | Crawley Town | 104 | (5) |
| 2019–2022 | Dundee United | 54 | (1) |
| 2021–2022 | →Dunfermline Athletic (loan) | 14 | (1) |
| 2022 | →Dundalk (loan) | 20 | (1) |
| 2022–2025 | Derry City | 94 | (2) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2007–2008 | Republic of Ireland U17 | 12 | (1) |
| 2008–2009 | Republic of Ireland U19 | 5 | (0) |
| 2011 | Republic of Ireland U21 | 7 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 5 January 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 27 January 2018 (UTC) | |||
Mark Gerard Connolly (born 16 December 1991) is an Irishfootballer. He has previously played forBolton Wanderers,St Johnstone,Macclesfield Town,Crawley Town,Kilmarnock,Dundee United,Dunfermline Athletic,Dundalk andDerry City. Connolly has also represented the Republic of Ireland atunder-21 level.
Connolly was signed fromWolverhampton Wanderers byBolton Wanderers on the summer transfer deadline in2009 after the clubs agreed a £1,000,000 fee.[3] Wolves later reported Bolton and their assistant managerChris Evans, a former academy director at Wolves, for an illegal approach for the player.[4] Connolly later stated he was unaware of the transfer fee Bolton had paid.[5]
On the January transfer dealine day of2010, Connolly signed on loan forSt Johnstone until the end of the season.[6] He made his debut on 27 March 2010 in the loss toHamilton Academical.[7]
During the 2011–12 season, Connolly was captain of Bolton Wanderers's reserve team and was on the substitutes bench for the first team in theirLeague Cup win againstMacclesfield Town and he then joined Macclesfield on 24 February 2012, on a months loan,[8] making his debut the following day in their 1–1 draw atOxford United.
On 15 May 2012, Connolly confirmed on his Twitter account that he had left Bolton.[9] This was followed by confirmation from the club that Connolly was one of twelve players released following the club's relegation to theChampionship.[10]
On 9 July 2012,Crawley Town announced that Connolly had signed for them on a two-year contract.[11] Connolly later stated he joined Crawley because he wanted the chance to play first team football.[12] Connolly made his debut on 14 August, starting in aLeague Cup match as a right-back againstChampionship sideMillwall which ended 2–2, with Crawley winning 4–1 on penalties.[13] He then made his league debut for Crawley, in the opening game of the season, in a 3–0 win overScunthorpe United.[14] In late August 2012, Connolly was part of the Crawley team which successfully defeated Bolton in theLeague Cup thanks to a last minute goal byNicky Ajose.[15] In November 2012, after an earlier spell out of the side, Connolly spoke of his enjoyment at getting back in the team and playing regular first team games.[16] On 1 January 2013, he scored his first Crawley Town goal in the 5th minute, in a 3–0 win overColchester United.[17] In a home match againstBrentford on 26 February 2013, Connolly gave away a penalty and received a red card after 50 seconds, with Crawley going on to lose 2–1.[18] He returned after being on the bench for five matches againstCrewe on 26 March 2013.[19] Connolly's second goal for the club came on 20 April 2013, in a 2–1 loss againstOldham Athletic.[20] In his first season at Crawley Town, Connolly scored twice in 35 appearances for the club.
In his second season, Connolly remained at the club after being linked with a move to Championship clubs following his performances during the previous season.[21] He spent most of the first half of the season on the bench before regaining his first team place. Connolly then scored his first goal of the season, with a header, in a 1–0 win overNotts County on 29 December 2013.[22] He went on to make 40 appearances in all competitions. Despite the club starting negotiations over a new contract,[23] Connolly was among 11 players released at the end of the 2013–14 season.[24]
Connolly signed a three-year contract with Scottish clubKilmarnock in July 2014.[25] He made his debut on 9 August 2014, in a 1–1 draw withDundee[26] Connolly then scored his first Kilmarnock goal from a header and earlier set up a goal forRobbie Muirhead, in a 2–1 win overSt Mirren[27] A few weeks later on 3 October 2014, he scored his second goal of the season, in a 2–0 win overDundee United.[28] On 22 February 2015, Connolly was injured during Kilmarnock's 3–3 draw againstInverness Caledonian Thistle[29] and it was later confirmed he had broken his collarbone with the injury expected to keep him out for the remainder of the season.[30] He returned from injury earlier than expected againstMotherwell on 8 May 2015.[31]
Ahead of the2015–16 season Connolly was named as captain of Kilmarnock, replacingManuel Pascali who had left the club earlier in the summer.[32] On 23 May 2016, he had his contract cancelled.[33]
On 2 July 2016, Connolly re-joined Crawley Town preceding his contract expiry from Kilmarnock.[34] On 6 August 2016, he made his Crawley return in a 1–0 victory againstWycombe Wanderers, playing the full 90 minutes.[35] On 1 October 2016, Connolly scored the winner in Crawley's 1–0 victory overBlackpool, netting in the 69th minute.[36]
On 4 August 2017, he signed a new three-year deal with Crawley.[37]
On 31 January 2019, Connolly signed for Dundee United of theScottish Championship for an undisclosed fee, on a two-and-a-half-year contract.[38] He scored his first goal for the club on 4 January 2020, the only goal of their away match againstQueen of the South, in what was his first appearance in the starting lineup since the previous August.[39] He was part of the United team that were 14 points clear at the top of the Championship table when the2019–20 season was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic; they were subsequently declared champions and promoted to the Premiership.[40] In August 2020 he extended his contract with the club until 2023.[41] The following month, he was charged with "not acting in the best interests of football" and breaching COVID regulations, when he allegedly refused to wear a face mask in a taxi.[42] He was subsequently given a suspended two-match ban at aScottish Football Association disciplinary hearing.[43] In May 2021, Connolly snapped his cruciate ligament in a Premiership match against Motherwell, and was expected to be out injured for several months.[44]
Connolly was loaned toDunfermline Athletic in September 2021.[45] He departed the club in January 2022 after playing every minute of his 14 appearances for the club, scoring 1 goal.[46]
On 17 January 2022, Connolly returned to his home country, signing forLeague of Ireland Premier Division clubDundalk on a six-month loan deal.[47][48] Dundalk confirmed on 22 July 2022 that Connolly had been recalled by Dundee United following his loan spell.[49]
After ending his loan spell at Dundalk, Dundee United sold Connolly toDerry City on 28 July 2022 for an undisclosed fee.[50] On 13 November 2022, he was part of the starting 11 in the2022 FAI Cup final as his side defeatedShelbourne by a record cup final score of 4–0 at theAviva Stadium.[51] On 12 November 2025, it was announced that Connolly would be leaving the club at the end of his contract, having captained the club during his three and a half years at the club, scoring 4 goals in 114 appearances in all competitions.[52]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Bolton Wanderers | 2009–10 | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | |
| 2010–11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2011–12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | |||
| St Johnstone (loan) | 2009–10 | Scottish Premier League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 1 | 0 | |
| Macclesfield Town (loan) | 2011–12 | League Two | 7 | 0 | – | – | – | 7 | 0 | |||
| Crawley Town | 2012–13 | League One | 33 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 40 | 2 |
| 2013–14 | 36 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 40 | 1 | ||
| Total | 69 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 80 | 3 | ||
| Kilmarnock | 2014–15 | Scottish Premiership | 26 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 29 | 2 | |
| 2015–16 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 10 | 2 | |||
| Total | 36 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 39 | 4 | |||
| Crawley Town | 2016–17 | League Two | 41 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3[b] | 0 | 46 | 3 |
| 2017–18 | 40 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 2 | ||
| 2018–19 | 23 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 1 | ||
| Total | 104 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 113 | 6 | ||
| Dundee United | 2018–19 | Scottish Championship | 9 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4[c] | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| 2019–20 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 1 | ||
| 2020–21 | Scottish Premiership | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | – | 29 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22 | 1 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | – | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 52 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 67 | 1 | ||
| Dunfermline Athletic (loan) | 2021–22 | Scottish Championship | 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 15 | 1 | ||
| Dundalk (loan) | 2022 | LOI Premier Division | 20 | 1 | – | – | – | 20 | 1 | |||
| Derry City | 2022 | LOI Premier Division | 11 | 0 | 5 | 1 | – | – | 16 | 1 | ||
| 2023 | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 7[d] | 0 | 24 | 0 | |||
| 2024 | 32 | 1 | 4 | 0 | – | 2 | 1 | 38 | 2 | |||
| 2025 | 35 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 37 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 94 | 2 | 12 | 1 | – | 9 | 1 | 115 | 4 | |||
| Career total | 397 | 17 | 27 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 18 | 1 | 457 | 20 | ||
Dundee United
Derry City
Individual
