Mark Draper
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mark Draper | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mark Draper | |
| Date of birth | 11 November 1970 | |
| Place of birth | Long Eaton, England | |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | |
| Playing position | Midfielder | |
| Senior career1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1988–1994 1994–1995 1995–2000 2000 2000–2003 |
Notts County Leicester City Aston Villa → Rayo Vallecano (loan) Southampton Total |
222 (40) 39 (5) 120 (7) 4 (1) 24 (1) 409 (54) |
| National team | ||
| 1991 | England U21 | 3 (0) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Mark Draper (born 11 November 1970 in Long Eaton, Derbyshire) is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder and represented England at under-21 level.
Draper began his career as a product of the youth system at Notts County, making his professional debut in December 1988. A talented midfielder, he became recognized by County supporters as one of the greatest young players ever developed at the club[1]. After attracting the attention of a number of bigger clubs Draper was finally sold during the 1994 close season to Leicester City for £1.25 million.
Draper spent the entire 1994–95 season at Filbert Street, playing 39 times (5 goals) in what proved to be a relegation season. His form attracted the attention of Aston Villa, who paid £3.25 million to keep him in the Premier League. Over the next four seasons Draper became a regular in the Aston Villa starting line-up, helping them to a League Cup win in 1996, and being called up to the England squad.
Draper fell out of favour in the 1999–2000 season, appearing in only one game to bring his Villa total up to 120 league appearances (7 goals), and was loaned to Rayo Vallecano in Spain. He was sold during that close season to Southampton for £1.5 million. By then approaching veteran stage, Draper added another 24 top flight appearances (with one goal) for the Saints before leaving the game.
He is currently involved in property development[2].
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Mark Draper career stats at Soccerbase
- ESPN Profile
- Aston Villa fan site profile
- Southampton fan site profile
- Aston Villa profile
