Michael Paul Tait (born 30 September 1956) is an English former

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 ...

and later a manager at the end of his playing career. His 760 league games puts him 13th in the list of English footballers. His clubs were

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team currently compete in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They have played their ...

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

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 ...

as well as Gretna in Scotland. Tait also later managed two of these clubs; Darlington and Hartlepool United. In 2012 he became a scout for

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

Playing career

Tait started his career as an apprentice at Oxford scoring 23 goals in 64 league appearances before moving on to Carlisle for £65,000 in 1977. He scored 20 goals for Carlisle in 106 league appearances before moving on to Hull City £150,000 in 1979. Tait scored 3 goals in 33 league appearances whilst at

Boothferry Park Boothferry Park was a Association football, football stadium in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, England, which was home to Hull City A.F.C. from 1946 until 2002, when they moved to the MKM Stadium, KC Stadium (now the MKM Stadium). In later years, ...

before moving on to Portsmouth for £100,000 in 1980. At Portsmouth he scored 30 goals in 240 league appearances. In 1987, he moved to Reading for £50,000 scoring 10 goals in 99 league appearances before moving on to Darlington in 1990 for free. At Darlington he scored 2 goals in 79 league appearances. In the 1992 close season he joined Hartlepool United, scoring 1 goal in 61 league appearances. In the 1994 close season he joined Gretna, but within weeks he was re-signed by Hartlepool and remained registered as a player with them until 1998, by which time he had been playing 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 24 years.

Coaching career

In 1998, two years into his second spell at Victoria Park, Tait retired as a player and took over as player manager for the team until he was released in 1999. Tait then took over as manager for

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 team

Blyth Spartans Blyth Spartans Association Football Club is an association football club based in Blyth, Northumberland. They are currently members of and play at Croft Park. They were founded in September 1899 by Fred Stoker, who was the club's first secre ...

, but left the Croft Park club at the end of the season. Two years later Tait was back in the Football League but this time at Darlington, taking over as caretaker manager in 2002. In June 2003 he was offered the job on a permanent basis, but was released by Darlington four months later in October 2003 until the club brought him back as reserve team coach. In February 2008 it was confirmed by Darlington that Tait had left the club. In 2009 Tait had a brief spell as coach at then Northern Premier League First Division club

Newcastle Blue Star Newcastle Blue Star F.C. is a association football, football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It was established in 1930 and joined the Wearside League in 1973. In 1978, the club won the FA Vase. They won promotion to the Northern Prem ...

before taking over as manager at

Conference North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 o ...

club

in May of the same year. After the 2010–11 season his contract expired and was not renewed.

Managerial statistics

Honours

As a player

Portsmouth *

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

: 1986–87 *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 Football League, 1920–21 and again from 1958–59 Football League, 1958 until 1991–92 Football League, 1992. When the FA Premier League ...

: 1982–83 Reading *

Full Members' Cup The Full Members' Cup was an association football cup competition held in English football from 1985 to 1992. It was also known under its sponsored names of the Simod Cup from 1987 to 1989 and the Zenith Data Systems Cup from 1989 to 1992. Th ...

: 1987–88 Darlington *

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Following the creation of the Premier ...

: 1990–91

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tait, Mick 1956 births Living people English men's footballers English Football League players Oxford United F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players Reading F.C. players Darlington F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Gretna F.C. players English football managers Hartlepool United F.C. managers Darlington F.C. managers Wallsend Boys Club players Men's association football midfielders Men's association football defenders Hartlepool United F.C. non-playing staff Footballers from Wallsend