A FOOTBALLER whose big break came after Brian Clough got him to trim his hedge has become the latest to tell his story to our Sporting Memories group.
Mark Tinkler, Middlesbrough’s assistant manager and the coach/manager of the Boro Under 21 team, told us how he had been brought up in Byers Green and went to the local junior school. Like a lot of other soccer mad youngsters, he was out most nights playing football with his pals until either it was too dark or his mother called him in.
He made progress at Spennymoor Comprehensive School where Dave Parnaby, the Middlesbrough and England youth coach, was his PE teacher. Mark represented the school and the county before making seven appearances for the England Under 18 side, five as captain.
He received a lot of attention from football league clubs who were never off his phone at home.
He recalled an instance when his brother answered the phone.
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"Who is it?" he asked.
"Brian Clough," said the voice down the phone.
"Bugger off," said his brother, thinking it was a prank.
Mark did eventually meet Brian Clough who invited him down to Nottingham Forest, picked him up from his hotel, and took him to his house.
Mark said: "He showed me around his house and garden and then he gave me some hedge cutters with the instructions, 'I am going to leave you here for an hour and I would like you to straighten those hedges as best you can.'”
Mark said: "It was near enough an hour-and-a-half before he returned, but he took me to the pub and later invited my mam and dad down.”
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However, Mark chose Leeds United as the club to start his professional career with, and he was a member of the Leeds youth team that in 1993 played against a Manchester United youth team that fielded David Beckham, Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt in the final of the FA Youth Cup.
Leeds United won 4-1 on aggregate and in April 1993 Mark was promoted to the first team, aged 18, making his debut in a 2-1 defeat to Sheffield United.
Luck was to turn against him though because early in the following season, 1993-94, he suffered a serious ankle injury in a reserves match against Manchester United. In the next four seasons, Mark only started in 19 first team matches with five substitute appearances.
He left Leeds in March 1997 and joined York City permanently for £85,000 making a significant impact in his first two seasons under manager Alan Little.
After 94 league appearances for York with eight goals, he joined Southend in August 1999. On the south coast, with Alan Little again his manager, he made 56 League appearances scoring one goal.
After a freak accident which involved a fall from a ladder, he signed for Hartlepool United on a two-and-a-half year deal. His debut was on November 4, 2000, where Pools lost 3-0 but he immediately cemented his place in the first team, helping Pool to the play-offs with 30 League appearances and three goals. At Pools, he made 211 League appearances from 2000 to 2007 with 34 goals which included 45 league appearances and 13 goals with a hat-trick in a 4-3 win against Wrexham in their promotion season of 2002-03. This earned him a place in the PFA Third Division side of the season..
Unfortunately, injuries hampered his career again and after a spell in Scotland with Livingstone he finished his football career with non-league Whitby Town, Shildon, Esh Winning and Newton Aycliffe.
Mark spoke to our Sporting Memories group, which meets at Heritage Park, Bishop Auckland, on September 21.
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