Mark Sykes (footballer)

Mark Sykes (born 4 August 1997) is an Irish[3] footballer who plays for English club Oxford United, as a midfielder.

Mark Sykes
Personal information
Full name Mark Sykes[1]
Date of birth (1997-08-04) 4 August 1997
Place of birth Belfast, Northern Ireland
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.82 m)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Oxford United
Number 10
Youth career
Glenavon
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2019 Glenavon 117 (16)
2019– Oxford United 104 (9)
National team
Northern Ireland U18
Northern Ireland U19
2016–2018 Northern Ireland U21 11 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:55, 23 April 2022 (UTC)

Club career

Born in Belfast,[4] Sykes began his career with Glenavon. In December 2017 he was linked with a transfer away from the club.[5] In February 2018 he signed a new contract until the end of the 2018–19 season.[6] In March 2018 he was described by a journalist as "one of the most outstanding young prospects in the Irish League".[7]

In January 2019 he signed for English club Oxford United,[8] making his debut on 8 January 2019 in the EFL Trophy.[9] He scored his first goal for Oxford against Millwall in the EFL Cup on 27 August 2019, and his first league goal in a 2–1 victory over AFC Wimbledon on 29 December 2019.[10]

Sykes scored Oxford's consolation goal in their 2–1 defeat to Wycombe Wanderers in the 2020 EFL League One play-off Final at Wembley Stadium.[11]

International career

He has also played for Northern Ireland at under-18, under-19 and under-21 youth levels.[12] He made his debut for the under-21 side in September 2016, in a 2–0 defeat to Macedonia and as of 28 January 2019 had 11 caps and 2 goals.[4]

He received his first call-up to the Northern Ireland senior team in May 2019.[13] He was called up again in September 2019.[14] In August 2020 he informed the Irish Football Association (which governs football in Northern Ireland) that he no longer wished to be considered for their squad, instead opting for the Republic of Ireland.[15] In March 2022, he was named in Stephen Kenny's Republic of Ireland squad for forthcoming friendly matches.[16][17]

Career statistics
As of match played 23 April 2022
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Glenavon 2013–14[18] Premiership 5000000050
2014–15[18] 2000001[lower-alpha 1]030
2015–16[18] 251400000291
2016–17[18] 33231202[lower-alpha 1]0403
2017–18[18] 309200000329
2018–19[18] 22400002[lower-alpha 1]0244
Total 1171691205013317
Oxford United 2018–19[9] League One 9000002[lower-alpha 2]0110
2019–20[10] 23140417[lower-alpha 3]1393
2020–21[19] 32010108[lower-alpha 4]0420
2021–22[20] 40820101[lower-alpha 2]0448
Total 1049706118113511
Career total 221251618123126728
  1. Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League.
  2. Appearance(s) in the EFL Trophy.
  3. 4 appearances in the EFL Trophy; 3 appearances and 1 goal in the Play-Offs.
  4. 6 appearances in the EFL Trophy, 2 appearances in the Play-Offs.

Honours

Glenavon

Individual

  • Ulster Young Footballer of the Year 2017–18[12]

References
  1. "Club list of registered players: As at 19th May 2019" (PDF). English Football League. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  2. "Mark Sykes - Biography". oufc.co.uk. Oxford United F.C. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  3. Fullerton, Gareth (8 April 2021). "Mark Sykes opens up on Republic of Ireland switch". BelfastLive.
  4. "Northern Ireland under-21 Men". Irish FA. Archived from the original on 10 January 2019. Retrieved 19 January 2020. Place of Birth Belfast
  5. "Glenavon expect star player Mark Sykes to move in transfer window". BBC Sport. 4 December 2017. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  6. "Glenavon: Manager Gary Hamilton and midfielder Mark Sykes extend Glenavon deals". BBC Sport. 20 February 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  7. Swain, Maxie (7 March 2018). "The Big Interview: Glenavon star Mark Sykes determined to fulfil his potential". Belfast Live. Retrieved 27 September 2018.
  8. "Mark Sykes: Oxford sign midfielder from Glenavon". BBC Sport. 2 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  9. "Games played by Mark Sykes in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  10. "Games played by Mark Sykes in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  11. Williams, Adam (13 July 2020). "Oxford United 1–2 Wycombe Wanderers". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  12. "Profile". NIFG. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  13. "Northern Ireland: Mark Sykes gets first call-up for Euro 2020 qualifiers in Estonia & Belarus". BBC Sport. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  14. Sterling, Mark (4 September 2019). "Northern Ireland: Sykes and Lafferty called into squad for Luxembourg and Germany games". BBC Sport. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  15. "Mark Sykes set to switch allegiance from Northern Ireland to Republic of Ireland". BBC Sport. 23 August 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  16. "Mark Sykes Called up for Republic of Ireland". www.oufc.co.uk.
  17. Fullerton, Gareth (18 March 2022). "Mark Sykes named in Republic of Ireland squad for upcoming friendlies". BelfastLive.
  18. Mark Sykes at Soccerway. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  19. "Games played by Mark Sykes in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  20. "Games played by Mark Sykes in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  21. Millar, Colin (7 May 2016). "Irish Cup: Glenavon lift trophy after stunning win over Linfield". Belfast Live. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
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