Footballers who have played league football for PNE & Crystal Palace since 1888
L-M
839) MACKEN Jonathan (PNE signed July 97 184 apps 63 gls) (Palace 25 apps 2 gls)
825) MIMMS Bobby (PNE signed Sept 96 27 apps 0 gls) (Palace 1 app 0 gls)
PLAYER PROFILE Jonathan Macken
Jonathan Paul Macken was born in Manchester on 7 September 1977. Macken did not play in a league match for Manchester United and joined Preston on 1 August 1997 for a fee of £250,000 with two other 'Fergie's Fledglings' in Colin Murdock and Michael Appleton.
Macken made his debut for Preston in a 0-0 draw at Gillingham on August 9 1997. His first goal came three days later in a 3-1 first leg League Cup win at Rotherham . His first league goal was on his home debut in a 2-1 victory against Millwall.
In his first season for Preston Macken scored 6 goals in 29 appearances. The following season Macken made 42 appearances including 12 as a substitute and scored 8 goals including two in a 4-3 victory at Lincoln on 29 August 1998.
Macken modelled himself on his hero Mark Hughes and became a firm favourite with the fans as the 1999/2000 season saw the emergence of a quality striker as he finished top scorer with 22 league goals and 25 goals in all competitions as Preston won the Second Division title. Goals game in regular intervals as he scored six goals in seven games on two occasions during the season. Although he didn't score an hat-trick he scored two goals in a match five times in the home matches against Cambridge, Notts County, Oldham, Wycombe and the away game at Oxford, all of them on the winning side. Macken was named with three colleagues in the PFA's Second Division select side.
Macken was leading scorer for Preston again in the 2000/01 season scoring 19 league goals in 38 appearances. Macken scored three goals in the first two matches of the season. The first in a 2-1 victory at Grimsby and a brace in a 3-0 win at home to Sheffield United.
Macken scored his first senior hat-trick in a 4-1 victory against Shrewsbury in the First Round second leg of the Worthington Cup on 5th September 2000. A further brace was scored in February 2001 as PNE defeated QPR 5-0. As Preston was chasing a play off spot Macken scored five goals in three appearances in April 2001 scoring two goals in a match consecutively against Watford and Crewe. Other highlights was scoring a goal after 19 seconds against Grimsby and scoring his 50 goal agaist Barnsley in a 4-0 win on 16 April.
Unfortunately Macken couldn't score in the three play off matches as Preston missed out on a Premiership spot.
The 2001/02 season saw Macken score twice in a 4-0 win against Norwich on 26 September and had a rich vein of form scoring in four of his next five matches . But Macken became unsettled with transfer talk and the goals dried up scoring a total of eight goals in 31 appearances. His final appearance was on 2 March 2002 against Birmingham in a 1-0 win. Macken scored a total of 74 goals in all competitions for Preston in the 229 games he played for the Deepdale club. The feats netted him two Players' Player of the Year awards as well as one from the supporters in 2001.
Macken joined Kevin Keegan at Manchester City for a record transfer of £5 million on 5 March 2002.
Macken scored on his debut in a 2-0 victory against Bradford netting within minutes of coming on and scored 5 goals in 8 matches at the end of the 2001/02 season to help City lift the Division One title.
Unfortunately Macken's stay with City was hampered by injuries only making 5 appearances in 2002/03. The next two seasons so him make 38 appearances and two goals, the first of these was in a 4-1 victory against Manchester United. Macken left City at the end of the 2004/05 season after scoring 7 goals from 51 appearances, which 24 of them was as a substitute.
Macken signed for Crystal Palace for a fee of £750,000 in June 2005 and made his debut in the 2-1 defeat at home to Luton on 6 August 2005. Macken struggled to get into the team due to Internationals Andy Johnson and Clinton Morrison. But an injury to Johnson gave him a chance, initially, but then he himself got injured. His own replacement, Dougie Freedman showed good form, and following a return from injury, Macken did not get back in the team.
However, things turned upwards from there. Poor form by Morrison in the run-up to the Christmas period gave Macken his chance, and he scored his first competitive goal for Palace in a 4-1 victory at Coventry on 14 October 2005. Scoring again on 26th December, in a 2-0 win at Ipswich although he was sent off later in the game for elbowing an opposition player.
However, injuries then limited his chances thereafter, and the partnership with Johnson continued to alternate between Morrison and Dougie Freedman as had made 25 appearances during 2005/06.
After one league appearance and a League Cup defeat to Notts County Macken went on loan to Ipswich on 8 September 2006 until the end of the year. Macken made his debut for Ipswich the following day in a 2-1 victory against Southampton. His first goal was in the 3-2 home defeat against Preston on 17 October 2006.
Macken scored a further two goals in December against Cardiff and Coventry to take his tally of 3 goals in 14 appearances for Ipswich before his return to Palace.
At International level, Macken represented England U-20 team at the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship. But he represented Republic of Ireland at full international level with his cap against Bulgaria in August 2005.