Mark Jonathan Briggs (born 16 February 1982) is an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former player who is the head coach of

Birmingham Legion FC Birmingham Legion FC is an American professional soccer club based in Birmingham, Alabama, that competes in the USL Championship, the second division of American soccer. The team was established in August 2013 and played under the name Birming ...

in the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

Playing career

England and Denmark

Briggs began his career with

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

, joining them on leaving Sedgley's Dormston School in the summer of 1998. Briggs captained the youth team to a cup win at Wembley Stadium in 1999 and was Youth Team Player of the Year the same season. In 1999, he also signed his first professional contract. He made his first team debut in the 2000–01 season. After making 12 first-team and 150 reserve-team appearances for the Baggies, he moved to Danish football for two seasons with

Herfølge Herfølge is a suburb of the town of Køge, Denmark, located about 5 kilometers south of central Køge, and is a part of Køge Municipality. The suburb is connected to Køge and Næstved by the Lille Syd railway line. Herfølge Church Herføl ...

in 2002, where they were the Danish 1st Division Champions and won promotion to Supa Liga. Briggs then proceeded to bounce around the English and Welsh lower leagues, playing briefly for a multitude of clubs including

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

Hednesford Town Hednesford Town Football Club is a football club based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Keys Park. They won the FA Trophy in 2004. History The club was established in 1880 as a merger of t ...

. He then crossed the pond and played for Kalamazoo Outrage before returning for a second stint at Hednesford Town. Briggs then went back to America and spent the 2009 season with the Wilmington Hammerheads before signing with Mosta FC in Malta, where he was Player of the Year in 2009, 2010, and 2011. Briggs then returned to Wilmington, where he finished his career and transitioned into coaching with the

Wilmington Hammerheads Wilmington Hammerheads FC was a semi-professional American soccer team based in Wilmington, North Carolina. Founded in 1996, the team last competed in the Premier Development League, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid in 2017. Histor ...

United States and Malta

In May 2008, Briggs was convinced to cross the Atlantic by former New Zealand international

Stu Riddle Stu Riddle (born 23 May 1976) is a former footballer who played as a striker. He is currently the head men's soccer coach at Midway University and was formerly the head coach of the men's soccer team at Western Michigan University, University ...

to play for Kalamazoo Outrage in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

as an over-age player. He played the PDL season in Kalamazoo, helping the team reach the PDL playoffs. After a brief stint back in England with Hednesford in the US offseason, Briggs signed with the

in the

USL Second Division The USL Second Division (commonly referred to as USL-2) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was at the third tier of soccer in the United States, behind Major League Soccer ...

in 2009. The Hammerheads won the USL 2 title, and Briggs was the team's Player of the Year. Following the end of the American season, Briggs signed for

Mosta Mosta () is a small but densely populated city in the Northern Region of Malta. The most prominent building in Mosta is the Rotunda, a large basilica built by its parishioners' volunteer labour. It features the world's 3rd largest unsupported ...

of the

Maltese First Division The Maltese Challenge League (referred to as the BOV Challenge League for sponsorship reasons) is the second-highest division in Maltese football, behind the Maltese Premier League. The First Division was the precursor of the present Premier ...

on a two-year contract on 1 October 2009. On 25 February 2010,

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are the oldest continuously operating professional socc ...

announced the signing of Briggs on loan then for the remaining season. A spell with Tooting & Mitcham United, whom he joined for the 2011–12 season, was followed in December 2011 by a move to Rushall Olympic. In February 2012, he rejoined Wilmington Hammerheads for a second spell in the USL Pro Division. After the 2012 season, Briggs was named the Hammerheads Player of the Year.

Managerial career

In November 2016, Briggs joined Mike Petke's staff at

Real Monarchs Real Monarchs is a professional soccer club playing in the MLS Next Pro, a third division league of American soccer. The team is an affiliate of the Major League Soccer (MLS) club Real Salt Lake. Real Monarchs are based in the Real Salt Lake ...

as an assistant. Upon Petke's promotion to the

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Fou ...

senior team in March 2017, Briggs was elevated to head coach for Real Monarchs. On 20 November 2017, Briggs was named

USL USL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Underground Sound of Lisbon, a Portuguese dance music project * Urban Strawberry Lunch, a band from Liverpool Companies * United Spirits Limited, India * Former United States Lines shipping company C ...

coach of the year after leading the Monarchs to the playoffs for the first time in their history. In 2019, Briggs joined

club

Sacramento Republic FC Sacramento Republic FC is an American professional soccer team based in Sacramento, California, that competes in the Western Conference of the USL Championship, the second level in US soccer. Co-founded by Warren Smith and Joe Wagoner in 2012, t ...

as Academy Director. Briggs was promoted to head coach for the 2020 season. On 7 December 2021, the Republic announced that Briggs had agreed to a new contract to bring him back for the 2022 season. On 13 July 2022, Briggs was named USL Championship coach of the month for June 2022 after leading the club to victory in all four of their league games and reaching the semifinals of the 2022 U.S. Open Cup for the first time. On November 4th, 2024 it was announced that Sacramento Republic and Mark Briggs mutually agreed to part ways.

Honours

As player

Wilmington Hammerheads *

Regular Season:

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

As manager

Real Monarchs SLC *

Regular Season:

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

Individual * USL Championship Coach of the Year:

References

External links

Mark Briggs' personal site

Charleston Battery bio

with career stats {{DEFAULTSORT:Briggs, Mark 1982 births Living people English men's footballers USL Second Division players Danish Superliga players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Herfølge Boldklub players Notts County F.C. players Tipton Town F.C. players AFC Telford United players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Redditch United F.C. players The New Saints F.C. players Welshpool Town F.C. players Hednesford Town F.C. players Willenhall Town F.C. players Chasetown F.C. players Kalamazoo Outrage players Wilmington Hammerheads FC players Mosta F.C. players Charleston Battery players USL League Two players Northern Premier League players Expatriate men's footballers in Malta Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Tooting & Mitcham United F.C. players Rushall Olympic F.C. players Isthmian League players USL Championship players Wilmington Hammerheads FC Real Monarchs coaches Men's association football midfielders English expatriate sportspeople in the United States English expatriate men's footballers English football managers Footballers from Wolverhampton 21st-century English sportsmen