- Mark Paston
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Mark Paston 
Personal information Full name Mark Nelson Paston Date of birth 13 December 1976 Place of birth Hastings, New Zealand Height 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) Playing position Goalkeeper Club information Current club Wellington Phoenix Number 1 Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 1997–2003 Napier City Rovers 135 (0) 2003–2004 Bradford City 13 (0) 2004–2005 Walsall 9 (0) 2005–2006 St Johnstone 2 (0) 2006–2007 New Zealand Knights 10 (0) 2007– Wellington Phoenix 39 (0) National team‡ 1997– New Zealand 28 (0) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11 October 2011.
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:00, 12 October 2010 (NZST)Mark Nelson Paston (born 13 December 1976)[1] is a New Zealand football goalkeeper who plays for the Wellington Phoenix in the A-League.
Contents
Club career
Early career
Paston's senior career began with Napier City Rovers before he moved to the United Kingdom in 2003 to join Bradford City. He followed this with a season at Walsall and then St Johnstone, before returning to New Zealand with the New Zealand Knights.
Wellington Phoenix
Paston signed for Hyundai A-League club Wellington Phoenix in 2007 from the New Zealand Knights. Paston made his debut for the Phoenix against Adelaide United where they lost 4-1. Paston was often the Phoenix second choice goalkeeper but when Glen Moss left to Melbourne Victory Paston was given his opportunity to become the Phoenix's first-choice goalkeeper.
Paston signed a new one year contract at the beginning of the 2009, keeping him at the Phoenix until the end of the 2009/2010 season. Paston played a large part in the Phoenix's undefeated home streak A-League record by keeping clean sheets against Central Coast Mariners and Gold Coast United. On 10 December 2009 Paston suffered a tibia fracture that kept him sidelined for the rest of the season.[2]
On 19 January 2010, Paston along with teammates Reece Crowther and Troy Hearfield signed contract extensions with the Phoenix. Paston is contracted until the conclusion of the 2011-12 season.
In a repeat of history, Paston suffered another tibial fracture below the right knee on 11 December 2010 after a collision in the loss to Gold Coast United, sidelining him for the second half of the 2010-2011 season.[3]
International career
Paston, having represented New Zealand at Under-23 level, made his full All Whites debut at the age of 20 in a 5–0 loss to Indonesia on 21 September 1997, but did not feature in another full international until 2003, Jason Batty, Michael Utting and later Ross Nicholson being preferred choices.[4][5] Since returning to the international side in 2003, Paston has competed with former Wellington Phoenix team-mate Glen Moss for the goalkeeper position.[4]
He was named in the New Zealand 2009 Confederations Cup squad to travel to South Africa,[6] where he was second choice as Moss played in all three games. However, Moss' suspension from international football for improper conduct[7] meant that Paston played in the World Cup Qualification playoff against Bahrain. On 10 October 2009 Paston kept a clean sheet in the first leg in Riffa, and in the return leg on 14 November 2009 he was Man of the Match, saving a penalty from Sayed Mohamed Adnan in the 51st minute which was enough to secure New Zealand a 1-0 win in Wellington, enabling them to qualify for the World Cup for only the second time in their history.
Paston's fractured leg had threatened to harm his World Cup chances, but the goalkeeper made a good recovery and was named in New Zealand's final 23-man squad to compete at the World Cup on 10 May 2010.[8] With Moss' suspension running into the first two games of the World Cup, Paston went on to play all of New Zealand's matches as Ricki Herbert's first-choice goalkeeper.
On 15 June 2010, Paston started against Slovakia and played an important role in helping New Zealand secure their first ever World Cup point with a 1-1 draw. Five days later he was instrumental in ensuring the All Whites drew 1-1 with reigning champions Italy, making several acrobatic saves. His good form meant that he started the final group game against Paraguay on 24 June, but despite pulling off more excellent saves and keeping a clean sheet in a 0-0 draw, the All Whites were unable to reach the last 16.
International Clean Sheets Date Opponent Score Result Competition Match Report 17 October 2007 
Fiji0-2 Win 2008 OFC Nations Cup Report 10 September 2008 
New Caledonia3-0 Win 2008 OFC Nations Cup Report 6 June 2009 
Botswana0-0 Draw Friendly Summary 10 October 2009 
Bahrain0-0 Draw 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualification Report 14 November 2009 Bahrain1-0 Win 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualification Report 29 May 2010 
Serbia1-0 Win Friendly Report 24 June 2010 
Paraguay0-0 Draw 2010 FIFA World Cup Report Last updated 24 June 2010 Career statistics
All-Time Club Performances Club Season 
First DivisionFA Cup League Cup Europe Total App CS App CS App CS App CS App CS Bradford City
(Football League First Division)2003–04 13 1 1 1 14 2 Club Total 13 1 1 1 14 2 Club Season League OneFA Cup League Cup League Trophy Total App CS App CS App CS App CS App CS Walsall
(Football League One)2004–05 9 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 12 2 Club Total 9 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 12 2 Club Season 
First DivisionScottish Cup League Cup Europe Total App CS App CS App CS App CS App CS St Johnstone
(Scottish First Division)2005–06 2 1 1 0 3 1 Club Total 2 1 1 0 3 1 Club Season 
A-LeagueFinals Series Asia Total App CS App CS App CS App CS App CS New Zealand Knights
(A-League)2006–07 10 4 10 4 Club Total 10 4 10 4 Club Season A-LeagueFinals Series Asia Total App CS App CS App CS App CS App CS Wellington Phoenix
(A-League)2007–08 1 0 1 0 2008–09 9 2 9 2 2009–10 13 5 13 5 2010–11 15 2 15 2 2011–12 1 0 1 0 Club Total 39 9 39 9 Career totals 66 16 1 0 3 1 1 1 71 18 Last updated 23 October 2011 See also
- New Zealand national football team
- New Zealand at the FIFA World Cup
- New Zealand national football team results
- List of New Zealand international footballers
References
- ^ Mark Nelson Paston Soccerway
- ^ Woodcock, Fred (11 December 2009). "Mark Paston's dead leg proves to be fractured leg". The Dominion Post. http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/3150058/Mark-Pastons-dead-leg-proves-to-fractured-leg. Retrieved 20 October 2011.
- ^ "Paston's season probably over". NZherald.co.nz. 14 December 2010. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10694174.
- ^ a b "A-International Lineups". The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website. http://www.ultimatenzsoccer.com/NZRepSoccer/id1559.htm. Retrieved 30 Mar. 2009.
- ^ "A-International Appearances - Overall". The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website. http://www.ultimatenzsoccer.com/NZRepSoccer/id1708.htm. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
- ^ "New Zealand - All Whites name Confederations Cup squad". Oceania Football confederation. 7 May 2009. http://www.oceaniafootball.com/ofcnewsdetails/new-zealand---all-whites-name-squad-for-fifa-confederations-cup.
- ^ Grantley Bernard (5 November 2009). "Moss Sees Red". Herald Sun. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/soccer/melbourne-victory-goalkeeper-glen-moss-world-cup-with-new-zealance-dream-has-been-clouded-by-suspension/story-e6frfg8x-1225794429447. Retrieved 10 November 2009.
- ^ "All Whites World Cup squad named". Stuff.co.nz. 10 May 2010. http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/football/world-cup/3676399/All-Whites-World-Cup-squad-named. Retrieved 10 May 2010.
External links
- Mark Paston – FIFA competition record
- Profile Wellington Phoenix
- Profile NZ Soccer - All White
- Mark Paston career stats at Soccerbase
New Zealand Squads Wellington Phoenix FC – current squad Categories:- 1976 births
- Living people
- New Zealand association footballers
- New Zealand international footballers
- 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players
- 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup players
- 2010 FIFA World Cup players
- Bradford City A.F.C. players
- St. Johnstone F.C. players
- A-League players
- New Zealand Knights players
- Wellington Phoenix players
- Walsall F.C. players
- People from Hastings, New Zealand
- Association football goalkeepers
- Napier City Rovers players
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