Mark Shelton joins York City after Barnet deal ends July 1
mark shelton is heading to York City when his Barnet contract ends on July 1. The 29-year-old midfielder arrives as the club prepares for its return to League Two, bringing a record built around promotions at several stops in the English game.
York City and Shelton
York City Football Club has announced the signing ahead of that return, and Shelton’s route shows why the club views him as a useful addition. He began in the youth setups at Nottingham Forest and Burton Albion before making his first permanent move to Ilkeston in 2016, then joining Alfreton Town shortly after.
A club representative spelled out that path in full: “In 2016, he made his first permanent move to Ilkeston before joining Alfreton Town shortly after.” That background places this move in the context of a player who has already moved through several levels of the game before reaching York.
Salford City and Hartlepool United
His strongest case comes from the promotions that followed. At Salford City, Shelton played a key part in the club’s rise to the football league for the first time ever, then went on to feature over 90 times for Hartlepool United and helped them win promotion to the English Football League through the play-offs in 2021.
The club also pointed to that first major breakthrough with Salford in its own words: “His first professional highlight came with Salford City whom he played a key part in their promotion to the football league for the first time ever.” That record gives York City a midfielder who has lived through promotion campaigns rather than simply watched them from the edge of the squad.
Barnet and York City
After a season at Oldham, Shelton became a fan favourite at Barnet and earned his third National League promotion there as a champion. That is the sharp edge to this signing: York City is not just adding experience, it is adding a player who has already helped teams finish the job in pressure moments.
For York, the timing is the key detail. The contract ends on July 1, and the move lands before the club’s League Two return begins. Shelton’s promotion record gives York City a midfielder with a clear recent history of helping teams move up, which is exactly the profile that can steady a squad entering a higher division.
