Brian Atkinson

Brian Atkinson (born 19 January 1971) is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder, either on the wing or as a central midfielder.

Brian Atkinson
Personal information
Full name Brian Atkinson[1]
Date of birth (1971-01-19) 19 January 1971[1]
Place of birth Darlington,[1] England
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1996 Sunderland 141 (4)
1996 Carlisle United 2 (0)
1996–2002 Darlington 193 (11)
National team
1990–1991 England U21 6 (0)
Teams managed
2016–2011 Newton Aycliffe (assistant)
2012 Spennymoor Town (assistant)
2012–2017 Darlington (assistant)
2017 Darlington
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Atkinson began his career with Sunderland and played in the 1992 FA Cup Final. After 141 appearances he lost his first team place in 1996 and was loaned to Carlisle United. Later in the year he joined Darlington, where he remained until his retirement from professional football in 2002.

His 13-year playing career brought almost 400 league and cup appearances and 6 England caps at under-21 level. He made his debut coming on as a substitute for Mark Blake in a friendly against Wales on 5 December 1991 at Prenton Park.[3] He was also part of the England under-21 team that won the 1991 Toulon Tournament, beating the hosts, France, 1–0 in the final.[3]

Atkinson had a brief spell working for Darlington's Centre of Excellence before spending five seasons as assistant manager of Northern League Division One club Newton Aycliffe. He was appointed assistant manager at Spennymoor Town in February 2012,[4] and took up the corresponding role at Darlington 1883 (now Darlington) three months later.[5] Atkinson stepped up to take charge of first team affairs on 1 October 2017 following the resignation of manager Martin Gray. This role was short-lived, and in November 2017, he re-joined Gray at York City as matchday analyst.[6]

Honours

Sunderland

  1. Although Sunderland lost the play-off final to Swindon Town, the latter were administratively demoted for financial irregularities and Sunderland promoted in their place.[7]

Darlington

England U21

References
  1. "Brian Atkinson". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  2. Rollin, Glenda, ed. (1997). Playfair Football Annual 1997–98. Headline. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-7472-5644-1.
  3. Courtney, Barrie (10 January 2004). "England – U-21 International Results 1986–1995 – Details". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  4. Simpson, Ray (28 February 2012). "Atkinson appointed Spennymoor assistant". The Northern Echo. Darlington. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  5. Stoddart, Craig (28 May 2012). "Quakers appoint Gray as new boss". The Northern Echo. Darlington. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  6. Ltd, Vitalnetwork. "Video: Gray deeply frustrated despite winning | VitalFootball.co.uk". VitalFootball.co.uk. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
  7. "Past Managers: 1985–1995". Sunderland A.F.C. Archived from the original on 17 February 2015. Retrieved 17 February 2015.


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