Michael Ingham

Michael Gerard Ingham (born 9 July 1980) is a semi-professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Tadcaster Albion.

He has played in the Football League for Carlisle United, Darlington, York City, Wrexham, Doncaster Rovers and Sunderland and at senior international level for the Northern Ireland national team.

As a teenager, he lived near the ground of Irish League Premier Division club Cliftonville, and played for amateur clubs Newington Youth Club and Malachians in the Northern Amateur Football League before starting his career with Cliftonville in 1998.

He won the Irish FA Charity Shield and made 35 appearances during the 1998–99 season after replacing Paul Reece as the team's goalkeeper.

Ingham started his career with Northern Irish club Cliftonville before moving to England with Sunderland in the Premier League in 1999.

Having been watched by a number of clubs, Ingham joined newly promoted Premier League club Sunderland on 28 July 1999 for a £30,000 fee following a trial in February.

He was loaned out to Third Division club Carlisle United on 1 October 1999, making his Football League debut the following day in a 1–1 home draw against Southend United.

He finished the successful spell with seven appearances for Carlisle.

He returned to Northern Ireland by rejoining former club Cliftonville on loan for the first three months of 2000–01 on 11 August 2000 to gain more first-team experience, saying "That's why I jumped at the chance of three months back in my old jersey. There was an option to join Lincoln City instead but they were only offering reserve games."

He was capped once by the under-18 team before winning four caps for the under-21s in 2001.

He finished this spell with 22 appearances, before being recalled by Sunderland in early January 2001.

He made his Sunderland debut by starting in a 4–2 defeat away to Sheffield Wednesday in the League Cup on 12 September 2001, which proved to be his only appearance of 2001–02.

This appearance resulted in former club Cliftonville receiving a payment from Sunderland, which was agreed when he was transferred to Sunderland.

He joined Stoke City of the Second Division on a one-month loan on 18 December 2001, where he failed to make any appearances after joining as cover for Neil Cutler following an injury to Gavin Ward.

Ingham was forced further down the Sunderland pecking order after the signing of Thomas Myhre in July 2002 and he joined Second Division club Stockport County on a one-month loan on 23 August.

He made his only appearance in a 3–1 victory away to Lincoln in the League Cup on 10 September 2002 and the loan was extended for a second month, before being recalled by Sunderland in October due to an injury crisis.

Despite this, he was forced further down Sunderland's pecking order after they signed Mart Poom on loan from Derby County and after considering handing in a transfer request he joined Third Division club Darlington on a one-month loan on 22 November 2002.

He made three appearances before returning to Sunderland in December.

He played for Sunderland in a friendly against Hull City for the opening of their new ground, the KC Stadium, which made him the first away goalkeeper at the ground, while also being the last to play at Hull's former ground, Boothferry Park.

This was his final appearance for Darlington in a 1–0 victory over Hull, during which he denied Stuart Elliott from scoring on three occasions.

He joined Third Division club York City on 24 January 2003 on a one-month loan after goalkeeper Alan Fettis left to join Hull, who Ingham made his debut against a day later in a 0–0 away draw.

His loan at York was extended for second and third months in February and March 2003 and he finished the spell, in which he performed well, with 17 appearances.

His second Sunderland appearance came in a 4–2 home defeat against Huddersfield Town in the League Cup on 23 September 2003 and in a reserve match in January 2004 he was sent off for head butting West Bromwich Albion's Simon Brown.

He was signed by Second Division club Wrexham on 15 March 2004 a one-month loan following an injury to Andy Dibble, which was extended until the end of 2003–04 on 16 April.

He finished this spell with 11 appearances for Wrexham, as well as playing in the 4–1 victory over Rhyl in the FAW Premier Cup Final.

In May 2004, he threatened to leave Sunderland if he was not guaranteed first-team football the following season.

After training with Blackpool, Ingham joined League One club Doncaster Rovers on 1 November 2004 on a one-month loan, playing in two matches.

He was loaned out by the club on eight occasions before eventually joining former loan club Wrexham on a permanent deal in 2005.

He earned three caps for Northern Ireland, gaining his first against Germany in 2005.

Ingham was set to join Coventry City on transfer deadline day in March 2005, but Sunderland cancelled the transfer due to an injury to Poom.

His league debut for Sunderland came in a 2–1 home defeat against Reading on 9 April 2005, which he entered as a 45th-minute substitute for the injured Myhre.

Despite suffering a neck injury while on the team bus, he made his first league start in the following match, a 2–2 away draw with Ipswich Town on 17 April 2005.

After the match, manager Mick McCarthy said "He knows he's playing for a future elsewhere and I think that overall he's handled a bloody tense situation really well".

After leaving the club in 2007 he joined Hereford United, where he made one appearance, and a year later dropped into non-League football with York City.

He was last capped against Wales in 2007.

Ingham was born in Preston, Lancashire, to a Northern Irish family.

Despite being born in England, he was educated in Northern Ireland and studied A-levels at St Malachy's College, Belfast.

He played for them in the 2009 FA Trophy Final at Wembley Stadium and after gaining the captaincy in 2010 he returned to Wembley Stadium to play in the 2010 Conference Premier play-off final.

Ingham was victorious with York in the 2012 FA Trophy Final and the 2012 Conference Premier play-off final at Wembley Stadium, the latter meaning the club was promoted to League Two.

Born in England, Ingham has represented Northern Ireland at international level.