Mark James Bower (born 23 January 1980) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre back and is the manager of Guiseley.
[citation needed] He signed professional forms on 28 March 1998[1] and made his first-team debut the following month against Norwich City in a 3–2 victory at Carrow Road on 4 April 1998 at the age of 18.
[8] Bradford had initially refused Bower to return to York for a second loan spell,[9] but he moved back to Bootham Crescent in November 2000 following a series of injuries for the rest of the 2000–01 season.
[10] York again struggled at the bottom of the Third Division, but Bower was praised by Dolan following a long unbeaten run,[11] as the team eventually avoided relegation.
Bower has regularly picked up gongs at City's annual awards and also writes a column in newspaper the Telegraph & Argus.
The following season Bower lost his place to Matthew Clarke before being ruled out due to an injury he sustained in a pre-match warm-up at Accrington Stanley on New Year's Day 2008.
[16] Later that season, he was once again handed the captain's armband in a home match against Morecambe, ten years after he made his debut for the club.
[21] He made his Luton debut the following day as they drew 1–1 away to AFC Bournemouth, in a match between the league's two bottom teams,[22] both of whom had been deducted points at the start of the season.
[27] Bower trained with Conference Premier club Chester City and teamed up with his former manager Colin Todd on trial at Darlington.
[28][29] After playing in a pre-season friendly with Scottish-side Hamilton Academical, which finished 0–0, Bower signed for Darlington along with fellow former Bradford defender Paul Arnison.
In May 2011, Bower signed for Conference North club Guiseley as vice-captain and made a strong partnership with Danny Ellis.
The decision to continue playing as normal after the goal was taken on the spur of the moment and under extreme pressure, not helped at all by the heated atmosphere.