Mark Richard Carrington (born 4 May 1987) is an English former professional footballer. He primarily played as a central midfielder or a right back.
Career
Crewe Alexandra
Born in Warrington, Cheshire, Carrington is a product of the renowned Crewe Alexandra youth system, joining their Academy at the age of 7. He represented Crewe at every age group level and played a key part in the under 18 team that reached the semi-finals of the F.A. Youth Cup in 2004.
During his third year scholarship at the club, Carrington was loaned out to Leigh RMI in the 2005–06 season, playing a holding midfield role and impressed enough to be awarded his first professional contract with Crewe in the summer of 2006.
In September 2006, Carrington went out on loan again when he joined Kidsgrove Athletic and made an impression that his loan spell was soon extended twice. Carrington had a successful loan spell at Kidsgrove Athletic, scoring 9 goals in 20 appearances from midfield, before being recalled by his parent club on 15 November 2006.
After returning from a loan spell at Kidsgrove Athletic, Carrington made his Crewe Alexandra debut on 28 April 2007, where he came on as a substitute in the 62nd minute, in a 3–0 loss against Port Vale. and broke into Crewe's first team towards the end of his first season as a professional. At the end of the 2006–07 season, Carrington signed a contract with the club.
Carrington made a handful of appearances the following season and saw a more regular place in the team with the arrival of new manager Guðjón Þórðarson in the 2008–09 season, and managed to score his first two goals for the club as a professional, in which his first goal came on 31 January 2009, in a 2–1 win over Tranmere Rovers. One of those goals being against his future club MK Dons in March 2009, and from that game Carrington earned praise from Steve Claridge in his Scouting Report for the Guardian. Having missed the last few games of the season with an injury, Carrington left the club when his contract expired in June 2009.
Milton Keynes Dons
On 21 July 2009, Paul Ince signed Mark Carrington on a two-year contract for Milton Keynes Dons.
After scoring in the pre-season friendly against Rushden & Diamonds, Carrington made his Milton Keynes Dons' debut in the opening game of the season, in a 0–0 draw against Hartlepool United and scored his first league goal for MK Dons against Colchester United two weeks on 22 August 2009. As the season progressed his game developed under the guidance of Ince, and although his starts were limited, he continued to impress when selected, and earned particular praise from the former England midfielder after scoring twice in the 3–1 win against Southend United on 20 February 2010. Carrington then scored his fourth goal for the club on 6 March 2010, in a 1–0 win over Leyton Orient and finished the 2009–10 season, making nineteen appearances and scoring two times.
With the replacement of Ince by Karl Robinson in the summer of 2010,and the arrival at MK of former England Assistant Manager John Gorman, Carrington continued to improve under John's guidance. Chances were limited however at the beginning of the season due to the signing of Dietmar Hamann. But the departure of Alex Rae to Notts County at the end of Oct 2010 saw Hamann move more into coaching, and Carrington featured in more games, helping Dons to their first away win of the season at Brentford in mid–November. Hamann quoted at the time 'one of the reason's for me taking a step back from playing was Mark Carrington's form, it was harsh leaving him out, so my move to coaching has given him a chance to play on a more regular basis and he has been excellent'. With a handful of first team appearances, Carrington scored his first Milton Keynes Dons' goal of the season, in a 4–1 loss against Sheffield Wednesday on 20 November 2010. However, with the return of Gleeson from injury, Carrington again found his chances limited and decided to leave MK Dons in the January transfer window, but not before scoring for them after coming on in the 81st minute against Dagenham & Redbridge to earn MK Dons a 1–0 win and three vital points towards their push for promotion. In a bid to play more regularly Carrington opted for a chance to play in the Scottish Premier League until the end of the season, where he put in some good performances against Celtic and Rangers.