It's been a frustrating last year for Glaswegian Mark Innes, a thigh injury restricted his ability to get into the first team regularly earlier this season. That followed a calf injury picked up early last season at Luton Town which was followed by a nasty knee problem picked up during training. He's just getting into the swing of things this season after a good comeback at the end of last season, then caretaker boss Lee Richardson having restored him to the starting eleven for the last two vital games against Bristol City and Blackpool, both of which saw him contribute well.
Born on 27th July 1978 in the Belshill District of Scotland's largest City, Mark played junior football with the bizarrely named Yett Farm and Mill United, he won lots with Mill but they folded so Yett became his team.
"There were a couple of Scottish teams interested in me but scouts from Oldham Athletic used to come up to Scotland once or twice a month" remembers Mark, "It started off with four of us going training with them, they then whittled it down to two, me and a guy called Allan Clark, I don't know what he's doing these days. At the time, Oldham were in the Premier League when I moved down aged 15, it was upsetting to leave my family at such an early age but it's something I always wanted to do so you have to make sacrifices."
Manager Joe Royle moved on and fellow Scot Graeme Sharp took over but it was Neil Warnock who was in charge when young Mark made his first team debut, "I didn't know until the morning of the game that I was playing" recalls Innes, who replaced Lee Duxbury on the left of midfield for the short trip to Burnley on September 2nd 1997. A crowd of 11,189 were at Turf Moor to see a goalless draw. "I didn't have time to get too nervous as it was a bit of a surprise but I really enjoyed it even though it came as a shock to me." He was sub in the next game against Preston, again at Fulham in October and he started the final game of the season at Grimsby.
Since his time at Chesterfield, Mark's occupied that left midfield role as well as left back and wing back plus a few run outs in the centre, but what's his favourite position? "I think it's got to be left midfield" says the Scot, "then centre midfield but overall, I'm glad I can play in a few different positions, it's going to help the team and the Manager."
Probably Mark's best moment at Boundary Park came in the final game of the 1998-99 season. He'd started the season's opener but wasn't involved again until Christmas time, coming on as a sub at Saltergate in the Oldham 3-1 win on Boxing Day in which Mark Allott scored two for The Latics and by the run in, during which relegation looked a distinct possibility, he was back in the side's starting line up. The last game needed Oldham to beat Reading to stay up and the Boundary Park faithful were able to celebrate Mark's first ever senior goal to open the scoring in a 2-0 win. "It was a great day, I was still young at the time, I don't think I realised how significant the game was, I was just happy to be in the team and playing but with a big crowd in the ground I soon found out how important it really was, the atmosphere was great, we took an early lead when John Sheridan put a corner in, it was half cleared, it fell to me just inside the box and I half volleyed it into the corner and I set up the second goal as well, so overall a good day for me and the team."
In the next two seasons, Mark was in and out of the Latics line up, 15 League starts plus 6 as sub followed by 27+3 but in the following season, 2000-01, he was restricted to a handful of sub roles, then, out of the blue, came the offer of a loan move to Chesterfield. He was a playing sub for Oldham on December 15th against Wigan, six days later he started for Chesterfield at the Withdean Stadium in a 2-2 draw with Brighton. "I'd missed the start of the season with a bit of an injury and I didn't get back in due to the fact that the team were doing well, up at the top, but then Andy Ritchie got the sack, Mick Wadsworth came in and it was obvious that he wanted to bring his own players in, even though he told me he rated me as a player, so when he told me Chesterfield wanted me on loan, so I thought I'd give it a try."
Innes grabbed the equaliser in a humdinger of a match on his debut, we were 2-0 down, Jamie Burt was magical, Paul Rogers had been sent off for flattening Jamie and physio Dave Rushbury was escorted away from the dugout by the Police. Seagulls Boss Peter Taylor was most uncomplimentary about Nicky Law and his side but we got a point thanks to Mark. He followed that up with another gaol in the 2-1 win over Notts County before Law departed for Bradford City. "The ball just fell right for me for those goals, I should have scored in my third game as well, I had a one on one with the keeper but missed it." That third game was Rush's first in charge, the superb 4-2 win over Oldham, Allott scored our first. "I was only on loan for two weeks, initially I'd joined for a month but after Nicky Law left I thought, here we go again! He'd brought me here, I didn't know what was going to happen, Dave said straight away he wanted me to sign, I had a good think about it and decided it was the right thing to do."
On his injuries, Mark rues, "My whole career's on the line really, every time I come back having done everything right, something else seems to happen, it's just one thing after another, you've just got to keep going and going until it gets right." Starting the last nine games will have helped Mark's confidence and we hope his career can continue in a positive way.
PHIL TOOLEY
