by Peter Scherer

Even the NHS Allstars teams will need managers and on this occasion the men for the job are Ted McMinn and Mickleover’s own boss John McGrath.

As a young 16 year old McGrath was a star of Irish youth side Belvedere, who won the FAI Youth Cup, Leinster Youth Cup and Under 18 Premier League.

The success brought him to the attention of Premiership club Aston Villa, who he joined in 1999.

He made two Premiership starts before going out on loan to Conference side Dagenham & Redbridge in November 2002. 31 games and two goals were accumulated as he saw out the rest of the season, before joining newly returned to the Football League, Doncaster Rovers.

As part of the squad that won the squad that won the Third Division title, he made 14 appearances. 

A loan spell at League 2 Shrewsbury then preceded a permanent move to fellow League 2 club Kidderminster Harriers. It was only a short stay and after 19 games he was released and returned to Ireland to see out the season with Limerick in the League of Ireland First Division.

He scored against Athlone Town but returned to England in 2006 with Conference South club Weymouth Town. His 13 games and 3 goals helped the club take the league title, but McGrath was on the move again to Conference National’s Tamworth.

It was a one season stay with five goals in his 48 games, before his long association with Burton Albion began.

He was player of the year in his first season as a Brewers player and won the Conference Premier title in the second. Continuing as a regular first choice in midfield, he totalled 247 appearances and scored 20 goals as Burton became established Football League members.

After six years at Burton he had a short loan spell at York City and then joined Alfreton Town for 2013/14.  He had one season there before joining Mickleover as a player initially, taking over the reins a year later to remain as player/manager.

He also gained International honours with the Republic of Ireland Under 21’s, making five appearances.

NHS CHARITY MATCH JUSTGIVING PAGE

All donations raised for the match will go straight to the NHS.

by Peter Scherer

Another of Mickleover’s current players to grace the pitch in the NHS Allstars Charity Match is former Republic of Ireland International Clinton Morrison.

His career started with his local club Crystal Palace and having come through their youth development, made his first team debut in May 1998, scoring on his debut too.

The team were relegated to Division 1 but Morrison had six successful years at Selhurst Park, scoring 71 goals in his 180 appearances, before moving to Birmingham City in a £4.25 million deal. 

It took a while for him to settle with the Premiership club, but he stayed for three years, scoring 16 goals from his 97 games, before returning to Palace for £2 million.

Palace were in the Championship and Morrison struck up a successful partnership with Andrew Johnson, who had joined them as part of the deal that originally took Morrison to St Andrews.

He stayed for another three years adding 41 more goals and 135 appearances to his club tally, before moving on to fellow Championship side Coventry City in August 2008.

His form had been good, with 23 goals in his 101 games, but after being released at the end of 2009/10, Sheffield Wednesday was his next stop, in League One.

With a goal on his debut for the newly relegated side, it started well, but after struggling to get a starting place, he had loan spells at Milton Keynes and Brentford.

After his release from Sheffield Wednesday he joined League 1 Colchester United. By then his media work was building up, but he managed to fit in a few games for Long Eaton United in the Midland Premier League, before signing for League 2 Exeter City, for his final season of League football.

In the latter years he played for Redditch United, but has been a Mickleover player since 2016, fitting in the occasional reserve appearance between his work on Sky Sports and Radio 5.

He made his International debut for the Republic of Ireland in 2001 and went on to make 36 appearances, scoring nine goals too.

by Peter Scherer

Mickleover FC’s own Pablo Mills, an ex Rams graduate, joins the NHS Charity match support.

Mills had joined Derby County as a 14 year old and graduated to make his first team debut under John Gregory’s management in 2002.

Primarily a defender, his versatility over the years has seen him play both midfield and striker too.

He stayed at Derby until the summer of 2006, having played 64 games in the Derby colours, as well as loans at Milton Keynes and Walsall, scoring his first league goal during the MK stay.

League Two Rotherham was his next stop, spending four years with them. For a while he was team captain, making 138 appearances and scoring three goals. He had another loan spell during that time, playing 14 games for Crawley Town in 2007.

He played for Rotherham in the 2010 League Two play-off final, but was then released and joined Crawley on a full time basis.

Two years at Crawley saw him make 53 appearances and score five goals, before moving to Macclesfield Town for a season.

The following year he returned to Rotherham, for a short stay before joining Bury for the 2014/15 season. After 39 games for the Shakers, plus a loan at Cheltenham, he made a couple of appearances for Conference North side Brackley Town, before beginning his long association at Mickleover from 2016.

by Peter Scherer

Another former Mickleover player, but striker Chris Beardsley spent his formative years at Station Road from 11-16 years of age.

He was snapped up by Mansfield Town and made his debut for the Stags in League Two in 2002, but they couldn’t avoid relegation.

After a loan spell at Worksop Town, where he scored once in four games, he returned to Mansfield but couldn’t get a regular first team place and was released at the end of the season, after he had played 22 times and scored one goal for them.

A move to newly promoted League One side Doncaster Rovers in July 2004 followed, but once again he struggled to get a start and five months later after only eight games, he moved to League two Kidderminster Harriers, where he completed the season.

He had scored five times for Kidderminster in his 25 games, but the following year returned to Mansfield. But his 2005/6 season was suddenly ended after a collision left him with a broken leg, leaving him out of action for a year.

It was a struggle to get back into the side, so 20 more games and two goals under his belt, the next move was Rushden & Diamonds after a short loan. 

They were in the Conference, but his stay was short, before moving to another Conference side York City.

He stayed in the Conference too when he joined Kettering Town in December 2007 following another loan. He was a regular with 66 games in his two seasons scoring 16 goals.

In 2009 he joined former Rushden manager Graham Westley at Stevenage and was part of the side that won the Conference Premier title in 2009/10 and were runners up in the FA Trophy the same year. One year later he played in the play-off winning team to earn promotion to League Two also.

He had made 117 appearances and scored 22 goals, but with Westley moving to Preston North End in League One, Beardsley followed.

In his second season he struggled to get into the starting line-up again and went out on loan to Bristol Rovers. The following two seasons were spent returning to Stevenage and Mansfield, before joining Burton Albion as fitness coach in 2018 and he is still registered to play as part of the Brewers first squad.

by Peter Scherer

An ex Mickleover player, but Aaron Webster made his name in Burton Albion’s colours.

Burton born he came through the Brewers Youth scheme, making his debut at the age of 17, when they were in the Southern League Premier Division.

He stayed at Burton during their move into the Northern Premier League, winning the title in 2001/2, promoting them to the Conference.

Seven years later Webster played his part as they were title winners again, with promotion into the League Two for their first time in the clubs history.

Webster was also part of the Cup success team that held Manchester United to that famous draw at the Pirelli Stadium.

Primarily a left back, his height made him versatile. He played regularly in midfield and was a regular goalscorer too.

He stayed at Burton for 15 years, with his 591 appearances and 101 goals, making him the third highest scorer in the clubs history and the second highest in appearances. He was player of the year too in 2004.

In 2013 he joined Ilkeston Town for a season, scoring eight goals in his 22 games. Next stop was with Mickleover for 2013/14, 15 games and four goals, before joining Basford United a year later. He scored another four goals from his 16 appearances, before trying his hand at management with Belper Town. It wasn’t his most successful move and after briefly playing again for Stapenhill in 2018, he joined the Burton Community Trust to educate the next generation.

by Peter Scherer

We have seen the ex Rams player and some of the other celebrities supporting Mickleover Sports NHS Charity match, now we will take a brief look at some of the NHS employees planning to take part too.

Micky Williams works at a porter on the medical assessment unit. He’s 44 and is a Midfielder.

Wayne Morris is a Goalkeeper. He’s a 41 year old pharmacy officer.

Aaron Mannion knows what it’s like to be busy. He’s an A & E assistant and at 24 likes to play Centre Half.

Chris Baker is another porter, but in the medical assessment unit. The 34 year old plays Striker or left Midfield.

James Baker is a porter, and it’s right Midfield or Striker for this 34 year old.

Like Chris Baker, Jake Bloore is another medical assessment porter and this 23 year old prefers playing Right Back.

Kristian Thoresen, aged 28 works as a support manager and he’s a central midfielder.

At 20 Tayler Blount is the youngest player. He’s a health care assistant on ward 307 and plays Striker or Midfield.

Damien Loughery is a health care assistant on the medical assessment unit and has the versatility to play Goalkeeper or Midfield.

Daniel Williams certainly has his ear to the ground as he works as a telecommunications call handler/help desk assistant and this 24 year old is more of a defensive midfielder.

We are happy to the announce that this year’s fantastic concert Hot August Night, will still take place, on the new date of Sunday 27th September.

Due to the current pandemic we have been working hard behind the scenes to make sure this event still takes place. It will now be an afternoon event due to the change in season.

What’s more is Bulsara and His Queenies (Queen Tribute) are back by popular demand!!! More acts and details to be follow.

Tickets go on sale 1st August! We looking forward to seeing you in September!

by Peter Scherer

There has been success as both a player and a manager for Mark Robins.

A Manchester United youth product, Robins was the second highest United scorer behind Mark Hughes in his first season of 1989/90. He was part of the FA Cup Final winning squad too, having scored the winning semi-final replay goal against Oldham Athletic, although he didn’t get to play at Wembley.

It was expected that he would become a regular in the team and collected medals from the Charity Shield, European Cup Winners Cup and Super Cup.

But in 1991/92 he hardly got a game and his record of 11 goals in 48 games came to an end with an £800,000 move to Premiership rivals Norwich City.

He scored two goals on his league debut for the Canaries and helped them to third in the league and a place in the UEFA Cup. They went on to beat Bayern Munich.

The following season was interrupted by serious injury and a combination of a slump in the clubs success led to another move to Leicester City, after 68 games and 20 goals.

He wasn’t able to stop Leicester’s relegation in 195/96, but helped get them promoted back to Premiership the following year. There was another medal too as League Cup winners 96/97, but he was also loaned out to Copenhagen and Reading.

He had a spell in Spain with Ourense and Greece with Panionis, before a brief spell at Manchester City, was once again injury interrupted.

Having come back to the UK to join Walsall, he had one season before joining Rotherham United. He scored two on his debut and 26 in his first season for the Millers.

After a short loan at Bristol City he joined Sheffield Wednesday for one year, again scoring twice on his debut. His final stop was Burton Albion, then a Conference side, retiring from playing at the end of the 2004/05 season.

His managerial career started back at Rotherham, where he went from assistant to caretaker to permanent manager for 2 ½ years, before moving to Barnsley. He had 18 months at Oakwell before taking up his first stint at Coventry City in September 2012.

It was only a short stay before he moved on to Huddersfield Town and Scunthorpe United, before making his return to Coventry in March 2017.

He took the Sky Blues to victory twice at Wembley, in the EFL Trophy 2016/17 and Play-offs 2017/18 and were top of League One when the current season was stopped.

Internationally he made the England under 21 side with seven goals from six games during his time at Old Trafford, but never made the full England squad.