Mark Draper

Mark Andrew Draper (born 11 November 1970) is an English former professional footballer who is currently the kit man for Notts County and runs a football training centre for children in Nottingham.

For other people named Mark Draper, see Mark Draper (disambiguation).

Mark Draper
Personal information
Full name Mark Andrew Draper[1]
Date of birth (1970-11-11) 11 November 1970
Place of birth Long Eaton, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Notts County (kit man)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1988–1994 Notts County 222 (40)
1994–1995 Leicester City 39 (5)
1995–2000 Aston Villa 120 (7)
2000 → Rayo Vallecano (loan) 4 (1)
2000–2003 Southampton 24 (1)
2009 Dunkirk
Total 409 (54)
National team
1991 England U21 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

As a player, he was a midfielder from 1988 to 2003, notably in the Premier League for Leicester City, Aston Villa and Southampton. He also played in Spain for Rayo Vallecano and in the Football League with Notts County. He represented England at under-21 level. In 2009, he briefly came out of retirement for non-league side Dunkirk.

Playing career

Draper began his career as a product of the youth system at Notts County, making his professional debut in December 1988. A talented midfielder, he became recognised by County supporters as one of the greatest young players ever developed at the club.[3] After attracting the attention of a number of bigger clubs, Draper was finally sold during the 1994 close season to Leicester City for £1.25 million – a record fee for the club at the time.

Draper spent the entire 1994–95 season at Filbert Street, playing 39 times in the Premier League (to which they had just been promoted) and scoring five goals, although it was not enough to prevent relegation for a side who were never out of the bottom two after November. Despite this he was called up to the England squad by Terry Venables.[4]

His form attracted the attention of Aston Villa, who paid £3.25 million to keep him in the Premier League. Over the next four seasons Draper became a regular in the Aston Villa starting line-up, helping them to a League Cup win in 1996. He received another call up to the England squad, this time by Glenn Hoddle for a World Cup qualifier against Moldova.[5] However, he stayed on the bench and was ultimately never capped for the senior team.

Draper fell out of favour in the 1999–2000 season, appearing in only one game to bring his Villa total up to 120 league appearances (7 goals), and was loaned to Rayo Vallecano in Spain. He was sold during that close season to Southampton for £1.5 million. By then approaching veteran stage, Draper added another 24 top flight appearances (with one goal against Middlesbrough)[6] for the Saints before leaving the game.

Draper made a brief playing comeback in 2009, signing for non-league side Dunkirk.[7] Draper was enticed back into the local non league game by Paul Rawden who took Draper to East Midland Counties League side Radford FC as coach and the pair saved the club from relegation, Draper then followed Rawden to Arnold Town season 2012–13 for a brief spell before they both left for pastures new.

Personal life

He is currently involved in property development.[8] In 2009, he rejoined his old club Notts County as their kit man.[9]

He currently works with ex-Aston Villa footballer Dave Norton at their soccer school "Draper Norton Football", based in Nottingham.[10][11]

References
  1. "Mark Draper". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 23 October 2016.
  2. Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan; Bull, David (2013). All the Saints: A Complete Players' Who's Who of Southampton FC. Southampton: Hagiology Publishing. p. 303. ISBN 978-0-9926-8640-6.
  3. "Former Greats - Notts. County FC - Notts County Mad Index". Nottscounty-mad.co.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  4. "Venables places emphasis on youth". The Independent. 19 April 1995. Retrieved 22 October 2014.
  5. "Football: Le Tissier has goals to achieve under Hoddle". The Independent. 27 August 1996. Retrieved 28 October 2014.
  6. "Boro downed by Saints". BBC. 24 February 2001. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  7. "Notts County legend Mark Draper signs for Dunkirk". Thisisnottingham.co.uk. 24 January 2009. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  8. Archived 1 May 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  9. "Notts County boss Ian McParland has told his players to stay calm in the face of huge expectation". Thisisnottingham.co.uk. 10 September 2009. Archived from the original on 24 October 2009. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  10. "What is Mark Draper doing now". Prenier League Heroes. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  11. "Who we are". DNF Coaching. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
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