Player in Focus: Mark Beck

MARK BECK

Mark Beck. Harrogate Town’s big man up top whose career has seen the heights of League One football and the lows of part-time action in the Conference North. Now back in the Football League after a seven-year absence, the Sunderland born striker tells his story....

By Henry Whitaker

Early footballing memories for Beck are mainly him kicking a ball in his parents garden or house, “ruining the grass or breaking ornaments in the living room,” as he describes it.

Born in the football-crazy land that is Sunderland, he grew up watching the Black Cats in the era of Nigel Quinn and Kevin Phillips playing up top, a partnership which scored a combined 194 goals in all competitions from 1997-98 to 2002-03.

Not some bad role models to have...

Maybe to the surprise of some, despite his height advantage, Beck wasn’t a striker until 15 years-old. Instead he played centre midfield for his local team Fulwell Juniors, a club he stayed with for 12 years.

Beck was also never in any footballing academies and instead played for his school and the County Durham team.

His path so far had never led him to think he would even get the chance to become a professional footballer and had plans to look down the route of becoming an architect.

It all changed for Beck at the age of 16, as the big man explains.

“I was playing for Durham County boys against Cumbria and there was a scout from Carlisle United watching the game. I scored and got an assist in that and was then invited to a trial game with the under 16s in which I did well in and scored.”

From there, Beck explains how things went from “0-100 real quick” as before he knew it, he had been offered a scholarship with the Cumbrian club. He was the first from that age group to be offered a scholarship despite only playing 60 minutes of football for the club.

“A few of the academy lads thought it was outrageous,” Beck explains. “But at first, I had no clue how big a deal that was. I went looking around Brunton Park and it was just a whirlwind. I had never thought about becoming a footballer but suddenly the opportunity was in front of me.”

Beck had started playing football for the fun of it to now having the chance to make a living from it.

He signed his scholarship with the League One club in 2010 and was thrown straight into the action.

For someone who had never been exposed to this environment before, Beck admits that he “struggled” during his first year and it led to talks with his youth team manager Eric Kinder, who told him he was going to need a big second year to earn a professional contract.

The striker recalls talking to his dad who told him it was going to be a “waste of the two years” if he wasn’t to make the most of this opportunity.

Those words hit deep with Beck and at the start of his second year, the Black Cats fan hit the ground running. Goals were flying in from all directions and it even prompted the first manager Greg Abbott to take a keen interest in the forward.

Beck’s development meant the Carlisle hierarchy wanted him to experience men’s football so they sent him out on a one month loan to Workington AFC in March 2012.

Funnily enough, Beck then made his first senior debut against Simon Weaver’s Harrogate Town, albeit the club was very different back then to what it is now.

“I don’t think I’ve ever told that story to anyone before,” Beck chuckles. “That was my first taste of men’s football and it was proper old school. Just men kicking lumps out of you. The few games I played were good though, I scored a goal in my few games.”

Beck returned to Carlisle at the end of the month and because of an injury to a Carlisle striker, Beck was promoted up to the first team. He was now 18-years-old but still a scholar.

The striker explains how previous players to have gone on loan to Workington had been offered a

pro contract, so at the back of his mind, he knew something might come his way. However, he wasn’t resting on his laurels. He trained with the first team for the remainder of the 2011/12 season and ended up making his Football League debut coming on as a substitute at Brunton Park against Charlton Athletic, who needed to win to clinch the title.

Beck remembers the exact moment he stepped on the pitch, in what he describes as another “whirlwind moment”.

“It [the stadium] felt packed,” he admits. Charlton had brought loads of fans with them and it was ridiculous, it was so loud. When I came on I don’t think I even looked at the stands. Greg Abbot was in my ear telling me to tell someone to take a corner and that’s all I thought about from the second I came on. I ran on and looked straight at the guy who I needed to tell, I didn’t look around me at all. I had tunnel vision and just did what the manager said.”

Carlisle went on to lose the game 1-0 but five days later, Beck was offered his first professional deal with the club. Beck explains how assistant manager Graham Kavanagh took him and the other lads who were getting a contract for a training session. There were only four of them and they all looked at each other knowing they were the better lads out of the youth team.

They trained in the morning and then were each individually pulled into Kavanagh’s office in the afternoon to give them the confirmation of the pro contract. Beck recalls Kavanagh saying that it was down to him to take the chance in the first team.

The striker was now part of a good Carlisle set up with the likes of Harrogate Town assistant manager Paul Thirlwell (Thirs) leading the team. To the surprise of no one, Beck confirms that Thirs is the same now as he was just under 10 years ago.

“Thirs was tough and scary,” Beck laughs. “He’d let you know if there was something up, just like he does now, to be honest. Coming through as a young lad, I wasn’t the finished article so I was still growing into my body and I was a bit sloppy. If a pass went astray in training, he’d be on me but not in a bad way. He’d just let me know the standards that were required. Relentless is the word to describe him, but in a good way.”

Beck stayed in and around the first team during his debut year as a professional footballer and made a handful of appearances for the Cumbrians. The big striker was used as an impact sub which surprised Beck, who at 18-years-old, didn’t think he’d get a sniff.

“I kept coming on a lot 70th minute and that was ridiculous for me, I didn’t expect to be that involved straight away. I got my first start against Doncaster who I think won the league that year. I remember playing against Rob Jones, a big, bald centre back. I remember thinking this is proper men’s football now. He was a big, horrible, nasty defender.”

Beck’s first goal came in the League Cup against Ipswich on 28 August 2012. The then-teenager scored a 90th-minute equaliser to take the game to extra time and he then set up the winner for teammate David Symington to cause a cup upset.

“I keep saying whirlwind but it was another one of those moments. My mates and I who came through the youth team were buzzing after the game and went straight back to our digs and put Sky Sports News on to watch our goals back. We were waiting all night and we were buzzing when they came.”

In the same season, Beck was also called up for international duty but not for England. He has a Scottish grandad who right now is very happy after Rangers recently won their 55th Scottish league title. It meant the striker was eligible to play for Scotland and he was called up for the under 19 European Championships in 2013. Beck scored his first goal against Belgium in a group stage match and then came up against England number one Jordan Pickford in the same stage of the competition.

Scotland failed to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition but Beck would then be called up for the under 21s side and sat in the stands with Andy Robertson as neither were able to break into the team. The Scottish left-back has gone on to have an alright career since... Early into the 2013/14 season, Abbott was sacked by Carlisle and Kavanagh took charge. As Beck was struggling to get a run of games together, he went north of the border, joining Falkirk on loan from January until the end of the season. “That was the first club where I got a consecutive run of games and I really enjoyed it there,” Beck says. “They’re a really good club and it was a good set of lads. We finished third that season and got in the Championship play-offs which I scored in but we missed out on the final after Hamilton beat us in the second leg.” On his return to Brunton Park, Beck saw another change of management as Kavanagh was sacked and replaced by Keith Curle. The big striker was liked by Curle and was offered a new contract to stay with the Cumbrians. Beck then went on to make just short of 30 appearances in League Two during the 2014/15 season but hadn’t done enough to keep Curle happy and at the end of the season, he parted ways with Carlisle United.

He moved onto Yeovil but Beck admits that the move “went bad”. The striker made just a handful of appearances and failed to hit the back of the net.

“I wanted to stay in the Football League. I was naive and thought I was a League Two player because as I had scored a few goals in League One and Two. Yeovil had just gone down from League One and I thought they’d be a good side still but it didn’t work like that. You don’t get a long period of chances in football and I didn’t play well or score any goals at Yeovil.”

Six months after signing for Yeovil, Beck joined Conference side Wrexham on a six-month loan deal. However, the striker once again struggled and failed to score a single goal. It was a rough season for Beck as he was beginning to doubt whether he was good enough to continue as a full-time footballer.

“That year was the worst I’ve had, football-wise,” says Beck. “It kicked my confidence not scoring. I didn’t want to be at Yeovil and they didn’t want me. I left by mutual consent and it was a weight off my shoulders as I meant I could go back home. I couldn’t wait to get away, to be honest.”

Beck moved back up north and to Darlington, who were playing part-time football. Home comforts and the lower level allowed Beck to regain some confidence and form which boosted his 2016/17 season. The striker scored on his debut and went on to bag another 18 goals that campaign. His contributions helped Darlington finish in the playoffs but they were not able to partake as the club couldn’t meet the regulations needed if they were to be promoted.

Nonetheless, Beck started the next season with The Quakers but he wouldn’t be there for much longer. The striker was in talks with York City and so nearly signed for the Minstermen before a late swoop by Harrogate Town changed his mind. Town had recently turned professional and had started the season like a house on fire which Beck loved.

He signed for Simon Weaver’s side in November 2017 and has been with us ever since. Beck has since made over 80 appearances and has more than 30 Town goals to his name. The Mackem man has also been part of both promotions from the National League North and the National League.

When thinking about the last three years, Beck describes it as another “whirlwind” period.

“If someone had said to me when I signed for Harrogate that I’d be in League Two in three years, I’d have said it’s ridiculous. I fancied us to get out the National League North but the Conference is a hard league. I never imagined doing what we have. Both promotions are obviously stand out moments, as well as my first goal which was at Wrexham away. That was bittersweet because I didn’t score while with them but against them I scored two and put them out of the trophy. That was my first good memory with the club. Wembley was of course amazing and also my goal against Grimsby last month. It was my first one back in the Football League since October 2014.”

For what the future holds for Mark Beck, this season is his main focus. The striker has had a torrid time with injuries as a hamstring injury has kept recurring. However, in recent weeks, Beck says he hasn’t felt the pain that was there for well over a season.

“I just want to see this season out without any more injuries, touch wood. I’d like to get a few more games, a few more goals and hopefully help the team kick on for the playoffs. The aim at the start of the season was to stay up or finish mid-table but now the aim can be to push into the playoffs. If we can do that or next year look to strengthen again, we can kick on for playoffs for sure.”