Mark Roland Tinkler (born 24 October 1974) is an English football coach and former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

, who is the assistant manager at

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

side

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

. As a player, he played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, most notably in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

for

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

. He also played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

and

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

. He appeared in Scotland for

Livingston Livingston or Livingstonemay refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North Am ...

before going on to feature in non-league for

Whitby Town Whitby Town Football Club is an English football club based in Whitby, North Yorkshire. The club participates in the Northern Premier League, the seventh tier of English football. Founded in 1880, Whitby are one of the oldest clubs from the Nor ...

Shildon Shildon is a town and civil parish in County Durham (district), County Durham, in England. The population taken at the 2011 Census was 9,976. The town has the Locomotion Museum, due to it having the first , built in 1825, and locomotive works on ...

Esh Winning Esh Winning is a village, and location of a former colliery, in County Durham, England. It is situated in the River Deerness, Deerness Valley to the west of Durham, England, Durham. History The village was founded by the Pease family in the 185 ...

and

Newton Aycliffe Newton Aycliffe is a town in County Durham (district), County Durham, England. Founded in 1947 under the New Towns Act 1946, New Towns Act of 1946, the town is to the north of Darlington and to the south of Durham, England, Durham. It is the ...

Club career

Born in

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham, England, Durham. M ...

, Tinkler started his career in

's youth team. Tinkler was part of the youth team that made the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

Final and played against a

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

side that fielded a mass of future internationals including

David Beckham Sir David Robert Joseph Beckham ( ; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Primarily a right winger and known for his range of passing, cross ...

Gary Neville Gary Alexander Neville (born 18 February 1975) is an English football pundit, former coach and player, and co-owner of English Football League club Salford City. As a player, Neville was a right-back and spent his entire career with Manches ...

Phil Neville Philip John Neville (born 21 January 1977) is an English association football, football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Major League Soccer club Portland Timbers. He is also the co-owner of Salford City F.C., Salford ...

Paul Scholes Paul Scholes (born 16 November 1974) is an English football pundit, coach and former player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, Scholes spent his entire professional playing career with Manchester United, for whom h ...

and

Nicky Butt Nicholas Butt (born 21 January 1975) is an English football coach and former player who was most recently the head of first-team development at Manchester United. He is also a co-owner of Salford City. Butt played professional football as a midf ...

. Leeds United won 4–1 on aggregate. In April 1993, Tinkler was promoted to the first team aged 18 and made his debut in the 2–1 defeat to

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

. However, Tinkler suffered a serious ankle injury early on in the 1993–94 season in a reserves match against

. In his first four seasons at Leeds, Tinkler started just 19 first team matches and made 5 substitute appearances. He left Leeds United in March 1997 and joined York City permanently for a fee of £85,000. Mark Tinkler went on to play a key role for York in the 1997/98 season and played in all but 2 of their 46 league matches, scoring 4 goals in the process. Tinkler made a similar impact for the following season and added another 36 league appearances to his tally. In August 1999, Tinkler joined

on a three-year deal for a fee of £40,000, with Southend managed by Alan Little, whom he played under at York City. He made 41 league appearances for Southend across the 1999–2000 season. Mark Tinkler started his second season at Southend strongly but it was unfortunately cut short after he fell off his ladder. In November 2000, Tinkler signed for Third Division side

on a two-and-a-half-year deal. Tinkler's Hartlepool debut came against

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...

on 4 November 2000, in which they lost 3–0, and he immediately cemented his place in the first team and he formed a formidable partnership alongside Paul Stephenson and

Tommy Miller Thomas William Miller (born 8 January 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He was most recently the assistant manager of National League North club South Shields. He has previously played for Hartlepoo ...

. He managed to play a pivotal role in helping Hartlepool make the play-offs making 30 appearances, scoring 3 goals. The 2001–02 season saw Tinkler score nine goals in forty league appearances as Hartlepool finished 7th, and qualified for the play-offs. Tinkler was part of Hartlepool's promotion-winning team in the 2002–03 season, in which he scored 13 goals in 45 league appearances, and was named in the PFA Third Division Team of the Year. One of Tinkler's most notable performances came in the 4–3 win against

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

where he managed to score his first hattrick. During the following seasons, Tinkler would once again play a vital part in Hartlepool's team as he helped establish them in League One. Unfortunately, injury has hampered Tinkler's career and he has struggled to play the number of games that he had previously. He was released by Hartlepool in May 2007 and joined

Scottish First Division The Scottish Football League First Division was the second tier in the Scottish football league system between 1975 and 2013. It was replaced by the Scottish Championship. History The First Division was introduced in 1975–76 in Scottish footb ...

side Livingston in July 2007. He was released by Livingston when his contract expired in May 2008 and joined

in the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

Premier Division in June. He joined

from Whitby Town in December 2008, before joining

in November 2009. Following his spell at Esh Winning, he joined for

in 2010, and made his debut in a 3–0 win over

Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It is a port on the north-west coast, and lies outside the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park. ...

International career

He was part of the England under-18 squad for the

1993 UEFA European Under-18 Championship The UEFA European Under-18 Championship 1993 Final Tournament was held in England. Players born on or after 1 August 1974 were eligible to participate in this competition. Teams The following teams qualified for the tournament: * * (host) * ...

Coaching career

Tinkler is employed as an Academy Coach at

. He was appointed as first team assistant manager at Middlesbrough when

Michael Carrick Michael Carrick (born 28 July 1981) is an English professional Association football, football coach and former player who was most recently the head coach of club Middlesbrough F.C., Middlesbrough. He is considered as one of the best midfield ...

became manager in October 2022.

Personal life

Tinkler is a fan of

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

. He has two daughters and a son.

Honours

Hartlepool United *

Division Three The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the Third Division become the fourth tier of English football. In 2 ...

runners-up: 2002–03 *

Football League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English Football League (EFL ...

runners-up: 2006–07 Individual *

Team of the Year: 2002–03

References

External links

*
England FA profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tinkler, Mark 1974 births Living people Footballers from Bishop Auckland Footballers from County Durham English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders Leeds United F.C. players York City F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Livingston F.C. players Whitby Town F.C. players Shildon A.F.C. players Esh Winning F.C. players Newton Aycliffe F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Scottish Football League players Middlesbrough F.C. non-playing staff