Mark Patterson is an English former footballer who made nearly 500 appearances in the Football League

The Football League

The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

 playing as a midfielder

Midfielder

A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...

 for Blackburn Rovers

Blackburn Rovers F.C.

Blackburn Rovers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Blackburn, Lancashire. The team currently competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football....

, Preston North End

Preston North End F.C.

Preston North End Football Club is an English professional football club located in the Deepdale area of the city of Preston, Lancashire, currently playing in the third tier of English league football, League One...

, Bury

Bury F.C.

Bury Football Club is an association football team based in Bury, Greater Manchester. The team currently play in League One. The club's nickname is The Shakers which was bestowed upon them by club chairman JT Ingham, an industrialist and ironmonger of the late 1890s.-Formation of the club and the...

, Bolton Wanderers

Bolton Wanderers F.C.

Bolton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the area of Horwich in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester. They began their current spell in the Premier League in 2001....

, Sheffield United

Sheffield United F.C.

Sheffield United Football Club is a professional English football club based in the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire.They were the first sporting team to use the name 'United' and are nicknamed 'The Blades', thanks to Sheffield's worldwide reputation for steel production...

, Southend United

Southend United F.C.

Southend United Football Club is an English football club based at Roots Hall Stadium, Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, who play in Football League Two. Their home ground is Roots Hall, and the club plan to move into a new 22,000-seater stadium located at Fossetts Farm.-Stadium:The club has had...

 and Blackpool

Blackpool F.C.

Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...

. He went on to play, and then to manage, in non-League football

Non-league football

Non-League football is football in England played at a level below that of the Premier League and The Football League. The term non-League was commonly used well before 1992 when the top football clubs in England all belonged to The Football League; all clubs who were not a part of The Football...

.

Career

Patterson used to be a midfielder playing for a number of clubs over a long career including: Blackburn Rovers, Preston North End, Bury

Bury F.C.

Bury Football Club is an association football team based in Bury, Greater Manchester. The team currently play in League One. The club's nickname is The Shakers which was bestowed upon them by club chairman JT Ingham, an industrialist and ironmonger of the late 1890s.-Formation of the club and the...

, Bolton Wanderers, Sheffield United, Southend

Southend United F.C.

Southend United Football Club is an English football club based at Roots Hall Stadium, Prittlewell, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, who play in Football League Two. Their home ground is Roots Hall, and the club plan to move into a new 22,000-seater stadium located at Fossetts Farm.-Stadium:The club has had...

, Blackpool

Blackpool F.C.

Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...

, Accrington Stanley, Rossendale

Rossendale United F.C.

Rossendale United F.C. was an English football club based in Newchurch, near Rawtenstall, Lancashire. The club was formed in 1898 but was expelled from the North West Counties League Premier Division on 18 June 2011....

 and Scarborough

Scarborough F.C.

Scarborough Football Club was an English football club based in the seaside resort of Scarborough, North Yorkshire. They were one of the oldest football clubs in England, formed in 1879, before they were wound up on 20 June 2007, with debts of £2.5 million.In the 2006–07 season...

. Patterson started his coaching career with Scarborough as player-coach and then assistant manager under Russell Slade

Russell Slade

Russell Slade is an English football manager currently in charge of League One side Leyton Orient.-Notts County:Slade was assistant manager to Mick Walker at Notts County, and took over as caretaker manager when Walker was sacked in September 1994. When County appointed Howard Kendall as manager...

. Since then he has managed several non-league clubs including Chorley

Chorley F.C.

Chorley Football Club are a football club from Chorley, Lancashire, England. They were founded as a rugby union club in 1875 but switched to football in 1883. They have reached the FA Cup second round twice in 1986–87 and 1990–91. Their best performance in the FA Trophy was in 1995–96 when they...

, Darwen

Darwen F.C.

A.F.C. Darwen is a football club from Darwen in Lancashire, North West England. The team, formed in 1870 as Darwen F.C., currently play in the Division One of the North West Counties League. They play their home games at the Anchor Ground.-History:...

 and Leigh RMI.

After the exit of Scarborough managagment duo Neil Redfearn

Neil Redfearn

Neil David Redfearn is an English former footballer and manager who is currently under-18s coach and reserve team manager at Leeds United....

 and his assistant Eric Winstanley

Eric Winstanley

Eric Winstanley is an English former footballer who is currently a coach at Supersport United.-Career:Born in Barnsley, Winstanley started his career with Barnsley after signing a professional contract in May 1962, where he later became captain. He made 410 league appearances for Barnsley and had...

, in the 2006 close season, Patterson took over as manager. Due to injuries and a small playing squad Patterson, at the age of 41, had to register as a player and has sat on the bench. He left the club on 4 May 2007 by mutual consent, having failed to agree a new deal. He was assistant manager to Phil Starbuck

Phil Starbuck

Philip Michael "Phil" Starbuck is an English former professional footballer who scored 43 goals from 245 appearances in the Football League playing for a number of different clubs...

 at Hednesford Town

Hednesford Town F.C.

Hednesford Town Football Club are an association football team based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They play at Keys Park.-History:...

until February 2008.

He is a qualified UEFA 'A' Licence coach, awarded in 2002, refreshed in 2007. Mark attended the FA Managers and Coaches course(2003) and has coached at the Bolton Wanderers Academy and at Wigan Athletic.
Currently Patterson is 1st team coach at Accrington Stanley (2010–11).