Michael Thomas Atkinson (born 2 December 1994) is a

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 plays as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

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 ...

for club

North Leigh North Leigh is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish about northeast of Witney in Oxfordshire. The parish includes the Hamlet (place), hamlet of East End and since 1932 has also included the hamlet of Wilcote. The United Kingd ...

and the Belize national team.

Early life

Atkinson was born in

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

and attended

Archbishop Holgate's School Archbishop Holgate's School is a coeducational Church of England secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located in York, North Yorkshire, England. History The school was founded as Archbishop Holgate's Grammar School in 1546 by R ...

Club career

York City

He played for York Schoolboys before joining

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 ...

's youth system. In March 2013, he joined

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 ...

Division One North club

Farsley Farsley is a village in the City of Leeds, Leeds district, in West Yorkshire, England, west of Leeds city centre and east of Bradford near Pudsey. Before 1974, Farsley was part of the Municipal Borough of Pudsey, Borough of Pudsey. Before 193 ...

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

, making his debut on 30 March when starting a 2–1 away win over Ramsbottom United. He finished the loan with two appearances. Atkinson signed a one-year professional contract with York in June 2013. His first and only involvement with the first team came as an unused substitute in a 0–0 home draw with

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 ...

on 17 August. He joined Northern League Division Two club Northallerton Town in September 2013 on a one-month loan. He made only one appearance, starting in a 4–2 home defeat to Chester-le-Street Town on 28 September, and York manager

Nigel Worthington Nigel Worthington (born 4 November 1961) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who was most recently the manager of York City. He played a defender and a midfielder, playing his club football for Ballymena United, Notts County ...

wanted to loan him to a club in a higher division.

Non-League

Atkinson joined Northern Premier League Division One South club Scarborough Athletic on 8 November 2013 on a short-term loan, signing permanently on 19 December after being released by York. He signed for

Northern Counties East League The Northern Counties East Football League is a semi-professional English football league. It has two divisions – Premier Division and Division One – which stand at the ninth and tenth levels of the English football pyramid respectively. ...

Division One club Selby Town in January 2014. Atkinson signed for

National League South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National League (English football), National Leagues and step ...

club Oxford City in July 2018 after a successful trial. He made his debut as an 84th-minute substitute in a 1–1 draw away to

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the North Somerset unitary district, in the county of Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. Its population ...

on 25 August. He finished his time at the club with two appearances. Atkinson signed for Southern League Division One Central club

in December 2019, making his debut on 26 December when starting in a 3–0 home win over Didcot Town. He finished the season, which ended prematurely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with four appearances, and signed a new contract with the club in July 2020. He made three appearances in a second successive season to be ended prematurely due to the pandemic.

International career

Atkinson is eligible to represent Belize at international level through his mother and received his first call-up for the Belize national team when being named in their squad for the

2017 Copa Centroamericana The 2017 Copa Centroamericana () was the 14th and last edition of the Copa Centroamericana, the biennial international men's football championship of the Central American region organized by the Central American Football Union (UNCAF). The tourn ...

. He made his debut as a 59th-minute substitute in a 3–0 defeat to

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

on 15 January 2017. He made his first start two days later in Belize's 3–1 loss to

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

, in which he was substituted on 47 minutes. Atkinson finished the 2017 Copa Centroamericana with two appearances as Belize were eliminated after finishing bottom in the standings.

Style of play

Atkinson plays as a

Personal life

Atkinson pursued a career as a physical training instructor in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

(RAF), starting the joining process in 2014, and has played for the RAF football team.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

Profile
at the North Leigh F.C. website
Profile
at the Football Federation of Belize website {{DEFAULTSORT:Atkinson, Mike 1994 births Living people Footballers from York English men's footballers Naturalized citizens of Belize Belizean men's footballers Belize men's international footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders York City F.C. players Farsley Celtic F.C. players Northallerton Town F.C. players Scarborough Athletic F.C. players Selby Town F.C. players Oxford City F.C. players North Leigh F.C. players Northern Premier League players Northern Football League players National League (English football) players Southern Football League players People educated at Archbishop Holgate's School Royal Air Force Physical Training instructors English people of Belizean descent Sportspeople of Belizean descent Military personnel from York 21st-century Royal Air Force personnel 21st-century English sportsmen