"Forrest Gump with added goals": who is Mark Shelton, City's new signing?
What to expect from the new addition in midfield
City made 29-year-old Mark Shelton their first new recruit of the close season when they announced his signing in early May. So who is he, why did one former manager liken him to Forrest Gump, and what can fans expect from him in a York shirt?
A product of the Burton Albion youth system, Shelton had his first taste of senior football with East Midlands non-league sides Ilkeston Town and Alfreton Town, before moving to Salford City at the age of 20. It was at Salford that he experienced the first of several promotions: he was a first team regular as they won the National League North title, then the following season secured back-to-back promotions by progressing through the National League playoffs. While not a prolific goalscorer while at Salford, with 4 goals from 49 games, he did show a knack for the spectacular, scoring twice from direct free kicks and winning Salford’s goal of the season award in 2018/19 for a long-range strike against Boreham Wood.
Shelton found his game time limited in League Two, however, so had loan spells at Woking and Hartlepool before joining the Monkeyhangers on a permanent basis. He cemented his reputation as a promotion specialist by helping Hartlepool to promotion via the playoffs in 2021, scoring a penalty in the shootout as they defeated Torquay. This time, Shelton retained his place after promotion to League Two, going on to play for Pool over 100 times before departing for Oldham in January 2023.
His spell with the Latics was not a happy one, though. Shelton’s debut actually came in a 2-0 home win against York, and while he was a regular starter under David Unsworth, the Oldham fans failed to warm to him. After Unsworth was replaced by Micky Mellon as Latics manager early in the 2023/24 season, Shelton was quickly frozen out and wasn’t named in a single matchday squad between late November and the end of the season. Shelton has acknowledged just how difficult this period of his career was, stating in an interview with Radio York that he “had a tough year at Oldham” and “was pretty much down and out at one point”.
Shelton’s contract with the club was terminated early by mutual consent after the season ended, and his next port of call was Barnet. His time at the Bees was in marked contrast to the struggles he faced at Oldham, as he quickly became a first team regular. He played a key role in their midfield alongside deep-lying playmaker Anthony Hartigan as Barnet won the National League with 102 points. Shelton chipped in with 12 goals (including 6 from the penalty spot), comfortably a career best tally, and scored their goal of the season with a first-time volley against Ebbsfleet.
Barnet manager Dean Brennan was full of praise for the impact Shelton made - in an interview on the Luke Walsh podcast, Brennan said: “Shelton’s done an amazing job with us…I nicknamed him Forrest Gump because he never stops running, I’ve never seen someone run so much in my life”. In his second season at the club, with Barnet now in League Two, Shelton was almost an ever-present in the starting line-up, and contributed a further 8 goals and 8 assists as the Bees finished just outside the playoffs.
Having now made the move to York, where might Shelton fit in to Stuart Maynard’s side? The most likely position would be as one of the two deeper-lying midfielders, where he would provide competition to Alex Hunt and Hiram Boateng. His profile is probably a little different to any other midfielders at the club, as he is neither a pure technician like Hunt nor a destroyer like Boateng whose strengths lie in breaking up play and winning second balls. Instead, Shelton might be best described as an old-fashioned box-to-box midfielder, with athleticism and a strong workrate allied to an ability to provide well-timed runs into the box and a decent attacking return.
While Shelton mostly played for Barnet in a deeper midfield position, he could also provide an option in the attacking midfield roles in Maynard’s system, competing with the likes of Banks, Pearce, Olley, Newby and Grey for the two spaces behind the main striker. Although York are well-stocked in this area, Ollie Banks may need some rest and rotation, and with the exception of Pearce the other players from this list all found themselves mostly playing roles off the bench by the end of last season. Then again, there may be further signings to come who are more naturally suited to this position.
If he can replicate the form he showed at Barnet over the last couple of years, then Shelton should be capable of making a strong contribution to City’s first season back in the football league. There are perhaps parallels to be found with the signing of Mark Kitching last year (who Shelton shared a dressing room with previously at both Hartlepool and Oldham) - a player approaching 30 who may look a solid rather than spectacular addition initially. If Shelton can make a similar impact as Kitching did last season, then his signing could turn out to be a very smart bit of business.