Martin: Alan

2007-2011 (Player Details)

Goalkeeper

Born: Glasgow: 01-01-1989

Debut: None

6’2” 11st 11lb (2007)

Martin, a Scottish youth international goalkeeper, was signed on the August 2007 deadline day by Leeds. He started off his career in the youth ranks at Motherwell and in 2006 made it into the first team squad, despite being the third choice goalkeeper. Alan signed his professional contract with Motherwell on 23rd December 2006 but made no first-team appearances. In June 2007 Motherwell manager, Maurice Malpass, revealed he expected Martin to move to Rangers, however, he returned to Motherwell for pre-season training. In August 2007, Martin was handed a trial with Leeds United. He impressed enough and on 31st August 2007, he was handed an inital two year deal with the club and Leeds paid Motherwell an undisclosed compensation fee. This provided competition for Leeds' other goalkeeper Casper Ankergren and Martin was called to the bench on 1st September as substitute for the Danish keeper but was not used. He was again an unused substitute for the home game with Swansea City three weeks later, but had not feartured in the senior team in anything but a passive role by the end of the 2007-08 season. He went on loan to Blue Square Premier club Barrow for one month on 23rd September 2008. The loan was extended to a season long loan andMartin gained invaluable experience with twenty-eight starts and one game from the bench andsoon became a crowd favourite. He returned to Leeds at the end of his loan period and featured in the pre-season games for Leeds. He replaced Shane Higgs in the thirty-eighth minute of the game at York City but gave way to Casper Ankergren after sixty-five minutes. However, he had the satisfaction of keeping a clean sheet in a 3-3 draw. He was then ruled out of United's game with Shelbourne by back spasms. He got the final ten minutes at Glentoran and again was unbeaten, after replacing Shane Higgs. He replaced Casper Ankergren after seventy-one minutes at Blundell Park against Grimsby Town and once more no shots passed him. After Casper Ankergren had been ruled out of the Elland Road friendly with EPL side Blackburn Rovers, he was the unused substitute as Shane Higgs played the full ninety minutes. He played the full game at Bradford Park Avenue in what was a strong Leeds reserve team but Bradford scored two late goals to force a 3-3 draw. There was no place for him in the game at St James' as Higgs had an hour and Casper Ankergren had half-an-hour in a 0-0 draw with Newcastle United. Casper Ankergren had the gloves for the full game in the 2-1 win against EPL side Burnley at Turf Moor with Shane Higgs unused as his deputy. On 2nd August 2009 Accrington Stanley agreed a deal to take Martin on loan until 1st January 2010. The League Two club had been chasing Martin for much of the summer as they sought a reliable keeper. Leeds were initially reluctant to let Martin leave, but the arrival of Shane Higgs at Elland Road prompted a change of heart. Leeds boss Simon Grayson was hoping the youngster could build up his first-team experience. By the end of September 2009 he had started seven League and two League Cup games with Accrington Stanley. Martin became an unfortunate victim of his own success. He was called up to Scotland's Under-Twenty-one squad for a European qualifying fixture in Austria on 5th September 2009, and his involvement forced the club to plan for a visit to Bury without him. They recalled Ian Dunbavin in his absence and the reality of the Football League dawned on Martin when he flew back to England to be named on the bench for next game against Darlington. Before linking up with the Scottish squad, the Twenty-year-old had been ever present in all but a Johnstone's Paint Trophy tie. He returned to Leeds on 27th October 2009 after seven League appearances, two games in the League Cup and one in the Johnstone's Paint Trophy with Accrington, due to an injury to Shane Higgs which left Leeds short of goalkeepers. He featured regularly on the bench as back up to Casper Ankergren until loanee David Martin arrived from Liverpool. He was third choice to Shane Higgs and Casper Ankergren and only made the bench when either was unavailable. Leeds released Casper Ankergren at the end of the season, but brought in Kasper Schmeichel. Martin did figure in the pre-season games together with Higgs and Schmeichel and Martin became increasingly aware that it might be a couple of years before he was ready to become first choice at Leeds. He therefore once more went on loan to Barrow on 4th August 2010 until January 2011. Leeds had a goalkeeping crisis in October, but Leeds Manager, Simon Grayson, chose to bring in loan keepers rather than bringing him back from Barrow, where he was a regular in the first team, when he would probably do no more than sit on the bench for Leeds. He did, however, return to Leeds at the expiration of his loan spell on 4th January 2011. He had started fourteen League games for Barrow in his second spell. On 31st January 2011 his contract at Leeds was terminated by mutual consent. On 9th March 2011 he signed a short-term contract with Scottish Second Division club Ayr United, as a part-timer, until the end of the season. He started fifteen League games and four more in the Play-offs as Ayr gained promotion to the Scottish First Division. Although offered terms for the following season, Martin declined as he preferred to be full-time. He signed with Crewe Alexandra on 25th July 2011, but once more he was destined to be second fiddle, this time to first choice keeper Steve Phillips, and he did not make his debut 11th August 2012, in a 5-0 home win over Hartlepool United in the League Cup. His League debut soon followed in a 1-2 home defeat by Notts County on 18th August 2012 and he went on to make twenty-five starts and one from the bench in the League and two starts in each of the League Cup, F.A. Cup and Johnstone's Paint Trophy in the season. For the new 2013-14 season he had become first choice ahead of Steve Phillips. While with Motherwell Martin had already represented his country at Under-Nineteen level, making his debut on 5th October 2006 in the UEFA European Championship qualifier against Bosnia & Herzegovina. He went on to accumulate seven caps at that level with his final one coming in the UEFA European Championship 0-2 away defeat against Azerbaijan on 28th October 2007. He made his first appearance for the Scotland Under-Twenty-ones in a 1-3 defeat by Northern Ireland, but he only lasted for twelve minutes before he had to be replaced by Scott Gallacher on 18th November 2008. He made his final appearance, his twelfth for the Under-Twenty-Ones, in a 1-2 home defeat by Iceland in the UEFA Championship play-off on 11th October 2010.