Mark Bonner: Thanks For The Memories
Mark Bonner: Thanks For The Memories
With todays news that Mark Bonner has been relieved of his position as Manager we wanted to look back and pay tribute for the man that has given many U's fans some of the best memories they've had following this team.
Whilst the time for a change is undoubtably now, the decision Mark to leave the Abbey with his head held high. Although results and performances haven't been of a high enough standard for some time now this doesn't take anything away from Mark Bonner as a man, and as a manager who transformed this club from League Two also-rans to a decent League One side.
With that, we've collected five of our favourite Bonner moments.
1) A Lockdown Legend
Where else to kick off but with those incredible lockdown legends? Taking over a team that had flirted with relegation from the league the season before playing some dreadful football under Colin Calderwood and turning them into a free-scoring, exciting and tough-to-beat side that gave U's fans some joy during the difficult Coronavirus pandemic. Jack Iredale and Kyle Knoyle bursting forwards, Wes Hoolahan making magic in the middle, Paul Mullin and Joe Ironside scoring goals for fun... Morecambe, Cheltenham, Leyton Orient and numerous other games where you knew by 4:45 on a Saturday you'd have probably seen at least one Mullin goal.
2) St Bonner's Park
Newcastle United 0-1 Cambridge, 8 Jan 2022. Joe Ironside. 56 Minutes. Say no more about this performance, as United went to the richest club in the world and came away with a 1-0 win the hosts had no answer for. Every player on the pitch gave 150%, whilst the bench was filled with an assortment of youth players such was the size of our squad. An afternoon no U's fan will ever forget.
3) Little Old Cambridge
Ipswich 0-1 Cambridge, 2 April 2022. Peak 'Little Old Cambridge' this, going to our illustrious East Anglian neighbours and dealing a bloody nose to their playoff ambitions, whilst also ensuring our own safety. Wound up 99% of the population of Suffolk.
4) Back on Track
Cambridge 2-1 Colchester, 1 Feb 2020. Colin Calderwood was a pretty awful manager wasn't he? Two 4-0 home defeats on the trot put paid to his reign of terror and up stepped Mark Bonner to try and save United's league position. In what would be a sign of things to come it was Bonner's subs that won us the game, Andrew Dallas and Harvey Knibbs with the goals.
Where Are They Now? Mark Bonners First Game
5) Derby Delight
Cambridge 2-0 B*ro, 15 April 2022. For many fans the highlight of Bonner's tenure wasn't the win at St James Park but the first win over P*sh in two decades. Although it came towards the end of a difficult season it definitely counts as one of Mark's finest moments and writes his name into the history books.
6) The Great Escape
Cambridge 2-0 Forest Green, May 7 2023. Blind luck, or something more? We went into the last day of the season with our safety in the hands of the Gods (or the Burton Albion keeper, at least) but a routine 2-0 win against an already relegated FGR kept us up. Truth be told, it wasn't this result but the wins against B*ro, Accrington, Fleetwood and Port Vale that kept us in the hunt until the final day, but luck was on our side and we lived to fight another day.