Marlon Beresford

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Marlon Beresford

| image =

| fullname = Marlon Beresford{{cite book

| last = Hugman

| first = Barry J.

| title = The PFA Premier & Football League Players' Records 1946–2005

| publisher = Queen Anne Press

| year = 2005

| page = 57

| isbn = 1-85291-665-6 }}

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1969|9|2|df=y}}

| birth_place = Lincoln, England

| height = {{height|ft=6|in=1}}

| currentclub = Stevenage (goalkeeping coach)

| position = Goalkeeper

| youthyears1 = {{0|000}}?–1987

| youthclubs1 = Sheffield Wednesday

| years1 = 1987–1992 | clubs1 = Sheffield Wednesday | caps1 = 0 | goals1 = 0

| years2 = 1989 | clubs2 = → Bury (loan) | caps2 = 1 | goals2 = 0

| years3 = 1990 | clubs3 = → Northampton Town (loan) | caps3 = 13 | goals3 = 0

| years4 = 1991 | clubs4 = → Crewe Alexandra (loan) | caps4 = 3 | goals4 = 0

| years5 = 1991 | clubs5 = → Northampton Town (loan) | caps5 = 15 | goals5 = 0

| years6 = 1992–1998 | clubs6 = Burnley | caps6 = 240 | goals6 = 0

| years7 = 1998–2002 | clubs7 = Middlesbrough | caps7 = 10 | goals7 = 0

| years8 = 2001 | clubs8 = → Sheffield Wednesday (loan) | caps8 = 4 | goals8 = 0

| years9 = 2001 | clubs9 = → Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan) | caps9 = 0 | goals9 = 0

| years10 = 2002 | clubs10 = → Burnley (loan) | caps10 = 13 | goals10 = 0

| years11 = 2002 | clubs11 = York City | caps11 = 6 | goals11 = 0

| years12 = 2002–2003 | clubs12 = Burnley | caps12 = 34 | goals12 = 0

| years13 = 2003 | clubs13 = Bradford City | caps13 = 5 | goals13 = 0

| years14 = 2003–2004 | clubs14 = Luton Town | caps14 = 11 | goals14 = 0

| years15 = 2004 | clubs15 = Barnsley | caps15 = 14 | goals15 = 0

| years16 = 2004–2008 | clubs16 = Luton Town | caps16 = 105 | goals16 = 0

| years17 = 2007 | clubs17 = → Oldham Athletic (loan) | caps17 = 5 | goals17 = 0

| years18 = 2010 | clubs18 = Middlesbrough Supporters South | caps18 = 2 | goals18 = 0

| totalcaps = 471 | totalgoals = 0

}}

Marlon Beresford (born 2 September 1969) is an English former professional footballer and current goalkeeping coach at Stevenage.{{Cite news |title=Marlon Beresford |url=https://www.linkedin.com/in/marlon-beresford-94382912/?originalSubdomain=uk |website=LinkedIn |accessdate=12 July 2024}} He formerly also worked as an accountancy tutor and sports commentator after retiring from football.

Career

=Sheffield Wednesday and early loans=

Born in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, Beresford started his career in the Sheffield Wednesday youth system. He signed a professional contract in September 1987. While at the Yorkshire club, he was sent out on loan to Bury, Northampton Town twice and Crewe Alexandra.

=Burnley=

After failing to break into the Sheffield Wednesday first team, Beresford was sold for a fee of £95,000 to Burnley, and made almost 250 appearances over a six-year period.

=Middlesbrough and further loans=

Beresford was signed to provide goalkeeping backup to Mark Schwarzer and kept three clean sheets in his first three games, helping the club to promotion to the Premier League. During the 2001–02 season he was then loaned to Sheffield Wednesday, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Burnley for a second spell.

=Later career=

When his contract with Middlesbrough ended, Beresford joined York City on a short-term contract in August 2002,{{cite news | title = Beresford joins York | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/y/york_city/2173581.stm | publisher = BBC Sport | date = 5 August 2002 | accessdate = 18 August 2010}} before joining Burnley for the third time, on an initial one month contract in September.{{cite news | title = Beresford back at Burnley | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/burnley/2240412.stm | publisher = BBC Sport | date = 6 September 2002 | accessdate = 18 August 2010 | first=Pete | last=Oliver}} Despite doubts over his proficiency, he played a whole season at Burnley. A return to York for the following season fell through due to insurance problems regarding an old back injury.{{cite web |title=Second York deal falls through |url= http://www.clarets-mad.co.uk/news/tmnw/marlons_on_the_move_again_163746/index.shtml}} He then signed for Bradford City on a free transfer in September 2003,{{cite news | title = Bantams net keeper | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/bradford_city/3109772.stm | publisher = BBC Sport | date = 15 September 2003 | accessdate = 18 August 2010}} after which he moved to Luton Town.

=Luton Town, Barnsley and Oldham Athletic=

Beresford impressed for Luton, becoming a fans favourite, but an FA-imposed transfer embargo which prevented the Hatters from signing him permanently. When his loan ended he moved to Barnsley but, after Luton came out of administration and had the embargo lifted, he was re-signed for Luton by Mike Newell in 2004.

Beresford played a key role in Luton's League One winning side in 2004–05 – the first time in his career he had picked up a championship winners medal. Due to his experience, he continued making appearances throughout the 2005–06 season and contributed significantly to Luton's respectable finish of 10th place. Beresford also played in the 2006–07 season which saw Luton relegated from the Championship.

Beresford spent a month on loan at Oldham Athletic between 18 October and 18 November 2007. A compromise was then reached with Luton with regard to his contract in 2008 .{{cite news | title = Relegated Luton start clear-out | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/l/luton_town/7378466.stm | publisher = BBC Sport | date = 1 May 2008 | accessdate = 30 May 2008}}

Post-playing career

Marlon spent spells with the IFA as a goalkeeping coach overseeing the development of the Northern Ireland U21 U19 & U17 goalkeepers along with a coaching role at Barnet FC Barnet. He now combines his time with running a very successful accountancy training company in Belfast & Edinburgh along with being a radio summariser for BBC3 Counties following Luton Town and BBC Radio Lancs covering Burnley FC in the Premier League{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/15126330.stm | publisher=BBC News | title=QPR loan out Hewitt & Borrowdale | date=30 September 2011}}

In 2017 Beresford re-joined Barnet FC as Goalkeeping coach but after only 2 months he teamed up with former teammate Stephen Robinson who was appointed manager and joined Motherwell FC as their full-time Goalkeeping coach.

In the summer of 2022, Beresford joined Woking, before joining Stevenage two years later.

Honours

Individual

PFA Team of the Year: 1992–93 Second Division,{{cite book |last=Lynch |title=The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes |page=149}} 1993–94 Second Division,{{cite book |last=Lynch |title=The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes |page=150}} 2004–05 League One{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/4475213.stm |title=Sunderland/Wigan dominate line-up |publisher=BBC Sport |date=24 April 2005 |access-date=14 January 2023}}