Mark Beesley was the fifth of Jimmy Quinn's signings in the January transfer window, moving from Forest Green Rovers in exchange for an undisclosed fee.

Described by his new manager as "a clever footballer with quick feet", Mark was raised in Burscough, Lancashire and joined nearby Preston North End firstly as a schoolboy and then as a YTS trainee and young pro.

"When I was there they got promoted to the Championship but they haven't managed to make that final step up to the Premiership and I don't know if they ever will," he says of his first club.

"There's a lot of clubs in that North West area near Preston - obviously Blackburn and Burnley are nearby and then half an hour away you've got United, City, Everton and Liverpool, and they're all big clubs so Preston will always struggle for crowds and money."

Having made a couple of substitute appearances for Preston, Mark joined Chester City in 2000 at the age of 19 and spent three and a half years there, becoming a first team regular and netting 32 Conference goals in 79 starts and 17 appearances from the bench.

His 16 goals in 2001-02 helped the club survive in the Conference, but, as often happens, a change of manager saw a change in fortunes and 'Bees' found himself in and out of the side for 18 months. He had a loan spell at Southport before being allowed to move south to join promotion rivals Hereford United in December 2003.

A six month spell there resulted in two goals in just four starts and eight from the bench, as Mark found it hard to break into an established line-up while they mounted an ultimately unsuccessful challenge for promotion: "It was a team that was already a 'team' really and I was a back-up so I didn't really get much of a chance at Hereford."

Moving on to Forest Green Rovers in the summer of 2004, Mark was a first team regular for most of his first season and scored nine goals, but then at the beginning of April he suffered a cruciate ligament injury and was sidelined until January 2006.

"I was out for nine and a half months so I was just coming back by the end of that season, and the following season the manager wasn't really playing me so I went on loan to Lancaster for a while," recalls the 27-year-old.

"Then Jim Harvey took over as manager and since then I never really looked back - I was a regular for about 18 months."

Mark finished last season with five goals from 30 appearances, but this season had already netted ten goals in the league before his transfer to Cambridge United.

"Jim Harvey came in and gave me a chance to play again and I really enjoyed my time under him," he says. "We played some good attacking football and it suited the way I wanted to play, and he's a very good manager."

One of the features of this season at Forest Green was Mark's prolific partnership with the Blue Square Premier's leading goalscorer Stuart Fleetwood. He had scored 21 league goals by 29th December, which includes a hat-trick against the U's as FGR inflicted our first defeat of the season in September.

Summing up why he thinks their partnership worked so well, Mark says, "I tended to come a little bit shorter for the ball and Stuart would tend to look a bit longer for the balls to be threaded through, and we seemed to hit it off quite well.

"I set up a few of his and he also set up a few of my goals and it was a decent partnership that worked well.

"We played well the day we beat Cambridge; I think I set up all his goals and everyone played well as a team that day."

Mark's transfer to United happened on the day of the home game against Exeter, and after agreeing terms over the telephone with Jimmy Quinn and signing a faxed copy of the contract in the offices at Forest Green, he then drove across country in time to make his debut that evening.

"It was a bit of rush - I just basically walked in the dressing room and was playing a couple of hours later - but those things happen in football and I'm sure I won't be the last player to do that," he says.

"I know Wayne Hatswell and Paul Carden from my time at Chester, and I also knew Scott Rendell who had a year at Forest Green and also Reedy had a loan spell at Forest Green, so there were a few faces I knew."

Mark has found the main difference in the way the teams play is the formation: "Here we tend to play a back three and five across midfield, whereas I was always used to playing 4-4-2, but I'm getting used to it and the more games I play the better that will get - I'm looking forward to it.

"We play some good football and I thought the winning goal on Saturday at Halifax was a great one. I think it started from the left back area and ended up working across the pitch and Glees crossed it from the right for Macca to tap in, but it was a really good team goal - a great bit of football from the whole team."

That goal was the winner, but before then Mark was responsible for the equaliser on the stroke of half-time.

It was a coolly taken finish (above) after Lee McEvilly had caused problems by closing the ball down close to the Halifax goal, and he describes it thus: "I think the goalkeeper came out for the ball but the defender cleared it and he hit it straight to me, so I knew I basically had to chip it over the defenders and with no keeper there it just bounced in.

"It was nice to get off the mark for Cambridge because in my other games I haven't really had that many chances, although there was one against Aldershot where I should have done better with it. So it was nice to score my first goal and hopefully there will be more to come."

Asked for his thoughts about his new club now that he's been here for a few weeks, 'Bees' confirms the comments he made on the day he signed: "In general I think the club is all geared up to go back into the League. In my opinion, it's a League club in the wrong division, and I noticed that from the moment I walked through the door.

"It's all geared up with a terrific fan base and the set-up here is all ready to go back into the Football League, and hopefully this will be the season it happens."

Mark is also enjoying working with Jimmy Quinn: "I've found it really helpful working under a manager who was a striker like I am; he's always giving advice to the strikers and you're always picking up tips and learning every day off someone like that."

He admits it will be odd to be restricted to watching today's game from the sidelines, as the terms of his transfer mean he cannot play against his former club this season.

"It will be really strange not to be involved. I really enjoyed my time at Forest Green, I made a lot of good friends and I really enjoyed playing for the manager, but I would have liked to have played against them for Cambridge.

"We're on a good roll and I don't like not playing - I hate watching and it will be a weird afternoon - but hopefully we'll get three points and push on up the league. I'm a Cambridge player now, although I'll follow the Forest Green results, but I'm desperate for Cambridge to win and hopefully we can."

Mark also answered some questions from supporters, submitted via the club message board at cambridgeunited.com, and started with one from Forest Green supporter Richard Joyce, who said, "Many thanks for the enjoyment of watching you play at FGR over the years. Do you think without your help FGR can still get in to the play-offs this season?"

"Mark: "Yes I think they can. They've got a good squad there and some good players, and obviously Fleets has stayed, which is a big thing for them. There are four places up for grabs so I don't see why not."

'Save Us CUFC' asks: "Were you explicitly told to pass to Fleetwood at all times?"

Mark: "The position I played was designed to try to create chances for the main striker, whether it be Fleets or anyone else, so I wouldn't say I had to pass to him but my first thoughts were that if I could turn and he was on I would try and get it to him."

Miles asks: "With a certain striker now gone, will we be seeing more of your shooting or do you generally play the provider?"

Mark: "That's really up to what the manager wants me to do. I'm happy to play, whether it's pushed right up or playing just a little bit deeper. I haven't really managed to get as many shots and chances as I'd like, and I'm hoping the more games I play, the better I'll perform."

Fred asks: "Do you get on with everyone in the CUFC team?"

Mark: "Yes I get on well with everyone. They've really welcomed me and obviously knowing a few of the lads helped, and I've settled in well."

Fred also asks: "Who has the worst sense of humour?"

Mark: "I'll be diplomatic and say 'It's too early to say'!"

Matt Ramsay asks: "Did you have options to join other clubs in the transfer window?"

Mark: "I think there was a little bit of interest but nothing concrete and once I knew Cambridge were interested and wanted to buy me then I wanted to be here."

Matt also asks: "What were your thoughts on Cambridge United before you knew the club wanted to sign you?"

Mark: "I'd seen them a couple of times on the telly and I knew they were a good team, and they're a massive club, especially at this level. I think this is the biggest club in this league, with maybe Oxford a close second, and one of the main reasons for coming here was to join a club with such a big fan base that's already geared up for promotion back to where it rightfully belongs, in my opinion."

Scott McGeorge asks: "What is your favoured position - an out and out striker or just off the front man or men?"

Mark: "I haven't really got a favoured position. I know it's a cliché but as long as I'm playing I don't really mind. As long as the team wins or does well it doesn't really matter where I'm playing - I feel as though I can do a job in either of those positions, wherever the Gaffer wants me."

Scott also asks: "Which player have you been most impressed with since joining Cambridge United?"

Mark: "Probably Michael Morrison."

Adam Taylor from Baldock asks: "The players always praise the fans at the end of every interview - is this an initiative by Quinn, or do all the players really appreciate the vocal support we give?"

Mark: "Oh, we definitely do. In my experience, I've come from a smaller club with a smaller fan base - and that's no disrespect to Forest Green and their following - and I've come to a massive club with a massive fan base and you definitely notice the difference in the amount and the volume of the support. I'm sure that's why people mention it."

Adam also wants to know: "Do Cambridge have any novel training routines you've not experienced at other clubs?"

Mark: "Actually, yes. We tend to do core strength exercises in the afternoon, which I've not really done before but I quite like. It's hard work mastering the techniques but once you've got that you should be OK."

Adam also asks: "Do any of your team mates go over the top with male beauty treatments i.e. waxing etc. If so, who is the worst offender?"

Mark: (laughs) "I haven't noticed!"

Adam's final question: "In training do players and management work at movement off the ball and finding space exercises at set pieces?"

Mark: "Yes definitely, especially on the day before the game there's quite a lot of work goes on set plays."

Hooley asks: "If you were stuck on a remote island with one United player, who would it be?"

Mark: "It would have to be Reedy, just for his entertainment value. And it wouldn't be Lee McEvilly, because he'd eat everything!"

Closing with his hopes for the rest of the season, both from a personal and the club's point of view, Mark says, "I said when I joined that I just want to play in every game and do well in every game, and hopefully that will help to take us to where we want to be, which is promotion.

"We're hoping that we can cement our place in the play-offs and after that you never know. We've got Torquay to play and other teams have got to play each other, so you just never know.

"If we keep winning we could even end up top, but the main thing now is to make sure we stay in the play-offs and then push on from there."

Andrea Thrussell
web@cambridge-united.co.uk

*A shorter version of this interview was originally published in the programme for the match against Forest Green Rovers on Saturday 23rd February, 2008.

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