Mark Tyler

Mark Richard Tyler (born 2 April 1977) is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

He was last the goalkeeping coach at club Peterborough United.

He played for the England national under-17 team and the England national under-20 team.

Born in Norwich, Norfolk, Tyler started his career as a trainee at hometown club Norwich City during the 1988–89 season.

He then had trials for the Ipswich Town and Cambridge United youth teams during the 1992–93 season, before signing for the Peterborough United youth team, from which he progressed before the start of the 1994–95 season.

His first senior game for Peterborough came on 18 September 1994 in a 4–0 defeat away to Birmingham City.

The game marked the beginning of three consecutive first-team appearances for Tyler, as he featured in a 2–2 draw with Rotherham United on 24 September 1994, followed by another defeat to Birmingham City which finished 5–3 in the Football League Trophy first round on 27 September 1994.

Tyler was recalled to the first-team for the second-round game on 29 November 1994, a 2–0 away defeat to Hereford United.

All in all, he made seven appearances in all competitions during the 1994–95 season at the age of 17.

He featured twice in league games during January 1995, replacing loanee Fred Barber as a 17th-minute substitute in a 0–0 draw with Bradford City on 14 January 1995, before making a starting appearance in a 1–1 draw away at Chester City on 28 January 1995.

Tyler failed to make a further appearance until 22 April 1995 in a 1–0 win over Blackpool, his final game of the season.

During the 1995–96 season, Tyler failed to make an appearance for Peterborough, spending time out on loan with Isthmian League First Division club Billericay Town.

In the 1996–97 season, he made three league appearances for Peterborough, firstly playing in a 1–1 draw away at Plymouth Argyle on 1 October 1996, secondly a 4–3 away win over Preston North End on 5 October 1996, lastly a 4–0 away defeat to Walsall on 9 November 1996.

He was later loaned out to Isthmian League Premier Division club Yeovil Town, where he made four appearances.

After returning to Peterborough, he made his fourth and final appearance of the season in their Football League Trophy southern section final first leg match against Colchester United, resulting in a 2–0 win.

In the 1997–98 season, with Peterborough now in the Third Division, Tyler established himself as the club's first-choice goalkeeper at the age of 20, playing in every league game and making 57 appearances in all competitions.

He went on to make 31 appearances in all competitions during the 1998–99 season.

Peterborough won promotion to the Second Division via the play-offs in a successful 1999–2000 season, with Tyler keeping a clean sheet in a 1–0 win over Darlington in the 2000 Football League Third Division play-off final at Wembley Stadium.

He made 40 appearances in all competitions during the season.

His career was not without injuries: a punctured lung sustained in 1999 kept him out of the team for a month, while a recurring wrist and hand fracture led to spells on the sidelines, particularly in early 2003.

By now an ever-present in the Peterborough first-team, Tyler regularly played in over 40 games per season, and was named in the 2001–02 PFA Second Division Team of the Year.

When Irish businessman Darragh MacAnthony became chairman and owner of Peterborough in August 2007, bringing money and ambition to the club, Tyler lost his first-team place to £400,000 record signing Joe Lewis, eventually being demoted to third choice goalkeeper behind youngster James McKeown and placed on the transfer list.

Tyler played 21 times in all competitions, all before the signing of Lewis, as Peterborough won promotion as runners-up from League Two in the 2007–08 season.

His loyal service to Peterborough resulted in a testimonial match organised by the club against Liverpool on 21 July 2007, in a game watched by a crowd of 9,339 fans.

In January 2008, he was signed on loan by Hull City for two months as cover for Hull's Matt Duke, who underwent an operation to remove a testicular tumour.

Peterborough won a second consecutive promotion the following season, though Tyler would play no part, as he was rarely even on the substitutes bench.

He signed an emergency loan deal with Watford in September 2008 to aid in their goalkeeping injury crisis, though he never played a game.

Tyler signed a one-month loan deal with League Two club Bury on 9 January 2009.

His loan was later extended for a further month on 5 February 2009, after keeping three clean sheets in five appearances.

He made a total of 11 appearances, of which seven resulted in wins.

Over the course of 15 years at London Road, Tyler made 486 appearances in all competitions.

On 15 June 2009, with the realisation that the opportunity for first-team football at Peterborough was becoming increasingly rare, Tyler had his contract cancelled by mutual consent.

Three days after his contract was cancelled, Tyler signed a two-year deal with Conference Premier club Luton Town.

Many players from his time at Peterborough were now in the Luton dressing room, including Shane Blackett, Claude Gnakpa, Liam Hatch, Adam Newton and Alan White, with Tyler admitting he would have no problems settling into his new club.

Tyler became an instant fan favourite at Kenilworth Road, saving two penalties in his first few months at the club.

A broken finger kept Tyler out of action for a portion of the season, though he still made 40 appearances in all competitions in the 2009–10 season, as Luton finished second in the table.

However, Luton missed out on promotion, losing 2–0 to York City on aggregate in the play-off semi-finals.

The 2010–11 season saw Tyler win the Player of the Season award for his performances, helping Luton to reach third position in the table, thus securing a second consecutive play-off place.

However, the team lost in a penalty shoot-out to AFC Wimbledon in the 2011 Conference Premier play-off final, with Tyler saving one penalty.

At the end of the campaign, he signed a one-year contract extension to stay at Luton until June 2012.