Mark Connolly
Irish defender turned Derry City interim manager.
Last updated
Mark Gerard Connolly (born 16 December 1991) is an Irish retired footballer who played for Bolton Wanderers, St Johnstone, Macclesfield Town, Crawley Town, Kilmarnock, Dundee United, Dunfermline Athletic, Dundalk, Derry City and Coleraine during his career. Connolly also represented the Republic of Ireland at under-21 level. After retiring, he became Director of Football at Derry City on 11 June 2026, and was announced as interim manager on 5 August 2026 following the sacking of Tiernan Lynch. In his first game in charge, he led the side to a 2–0 victory over Sligo Rovers, describing the experience as "an absolute honour."
Club career
Mark Connolly moved from Wolverhampton Wanderers to Bolton Wanderers on the summer transfer deadline in 2009, with the clubs settling on a £1,000,000 fee. After the transfer, Wolves reported Bolton and their assistant manager Chris Evans—who had previously been Wolves' academy director—for making an illegal approach for the player. Connolly later said he had no knowledge of the fee Bolton paid. On the January transfer deadline in 2010, he joined St Johnstone on loan for the rest of the season, making his debut on 27 March 2010 in a loss to Hamilton Academical.
During the 2011–12 season, Connolly captained Bolton's reserve team and sat on the first-team bench for a League Cup win over Macclesfield Town. On 24 February 2012, he went to Macclesfield on a one-month loan, debuting the next day in a 1–1 draw at Oxford United. On 15 May 2012, Connolly announced on Twitter that he had left Bolton, and the club later confirmed he was among twelve players released after their relegation to the Championship.
Crawley Town
On 9 July 2012, Crawley Town announced Connolly had signed a two-year contract. He said he chose Crawley for the chance to play regular first-team football. He debuted on 14 August as a right-back in a League Cup match against Championship side Millwall, which ended 2–2 before Crawley won 4–1 on penalties. His league debut came in the season opener, a 3–0 win over Scunthorpe United.
In late August 2012, Connolly was part of the Crawley team that beat Bolton in the League Cup thanks to a last-minute goal from Nicky Ajose. After a spell out of the side, he said in November 2012 that he was enjoying being back in the team and playing regularly. On 1 January 2013, he scored his first Crawley goal in the fifth minute of a 3–0 win over Colchester United. On 26 February 2013, in a home match against Brentford, he gave away a penalty and received a red card after 50 seconds; Crawley lost 2–1.
He returned after five matches on the bench, playing against Crewe on 26 March 2013. His second goal for the club came on 20 April 2013 in a 2–1 loss to Oldham Athletic. In his first season at Crawley, Connolly scored twice in 35 appearances.
Career statistics and honours
Playing statistics
| 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 | 0 | 40 | 2 |
| 2013–14 | 36 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 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 | 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 | 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 | 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 | |||
| Coleraine | 2025–26 | NIFL Premiership | 15 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | 20 | 1 | |
| Career total | 412 | 18 | 31 | 2 | 14 | 1 | 18 | 1 | 477 | 21 | ||
Managerial statistics
| Team | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | |||
| Derry City (interim) | 5 August 2026 | Present | ||||||||
| Total | ||||||||||
Tables copied from the source article, totals included as the source gives them: Wikipedia: Mark Connolly (CC BY-SA 4.0). Wide tables scroll sideways.
Did You Know?
- Wolves reported Bolton and assistant manager Chris Evans for an illegal approach after Connolly's transfer.
- Connolly was captain of Kilmarnock for the 2015–16 season, replacing Manuel Pascali.
- He was part of the Dundee United team that were 14 points clear at the top of the Scottish Championship when the 2019–20 season was curtailed due to COVID-19.
- Connolly captained Derry City during his three and a half years at the club, scoring 4 goals in 114 appearances.
More in Derry City F.C. Managers
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Mark Connolly (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Statistics, medals and awards: the tables of the source article.
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced