Mark Hateley

Mark Wayne Hateley (born 7 November 1961) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He started his career with Coventry City in the First Division of English football. A spell followed at English Second Division club Portsmouth, where he ended the 1983–84 season as the club's top goalscorer. He then moved to Italian club AC Milan, where he suffered several injuries (requiring four operations); on 7 November 1961. His father, Tony, was also a professional footballer who played as a striker for clubs such as Notts County, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Liverpool and Coventry City.

Club career Hateley trained with Nottingham Forest whilst still at school; however, he was rejected by then-manager Brian Clough, who did not believe he was sufficiently talented. Upon leaving school, he joined Coventry City and started his career in professional football, playing over 90 games in the First Division before moving to Portsmouth in the Second Division in the summer of 1983. He scored 22 league goals for them in the 1983–84 season. He scored a decisive and historic match-winning headed goal in a 2–1 win against Inter in the Milan Derby on 28 October 1984; this was the first time Milan had defeated Inter in the Derby in six years.

Arsène Wenger then brought Hateley to AS Monaco, his first signing for the club, Ayrton Senna lived in the apartment below him, and Boris Becker lived next door, during part of his time in Monaco. Senna played five-a-side football with Hateley. Manager Graeme Souness had attempted to bring him to Ibrox three years earlier from Milan. Hateley became a key part of the Rangers side, and was voted player of the year by the Scottish Football Writers in the 1993–94 season. He scored 112 goals for the Gers in all competitions, including two that clinched the championship on the final day in 1991 and one in each of the narrow Scottish Cup final victories in 1992 and 1993. Rangers were league champions in every season that Hateley played for them (scoring 85 Scottish Premier Division goals in the process), as they went on a run of nine successive titles, which lasted from 1989 until 1997.

Regarding his strike partnership at Rangers with Ally McCoist, Hateley said: "Alistair was the perfect partner for me. As a finisher, he was an unbelievable goal scorer. It was a great partnership." He finished in third place for the SFWA award in 1993.

After making 218 appearances for Rangers, he moved to Queens Park Rangers in November 1995, for a fee of £1.5 million. He had just recovered from having concurrent operations on his knee and ankle. Hateley said in 2021: "My dad always said to never make a decision when injured, or in ill-health, because invariably it will be the wrong decision, an emotional decision. I knew after literally ten days that it was the wrong move." Rangers won the game 1–0, but Hateley was sent off for headbutting Stewart Kerr. He played four times in his second spell at Rangers, scoring once, and transferred to Hull City in July 1997, where he fulfilled the role of player-manager. Hateley managed Hull from the summer of 1997 until November 1998.

Hateley ended his playing career with Ross County in September 1999, playing two games for them. He later said: "It was a great time. I really did enjoy myself up there. It was a logistic nightmare for me, because I was staying down in Derby and going through a divorce. I was having to fly from East Midlands into Glasgow and then I had twenty minutes to make a connection to get up there, and I could never make it."

Style of play A traditional target man, Hateley was a physical centre-forward who was known in particular for his strength in the air and ability to score goals with his head.

Paul Gascoigne lived with Hateley for two weeks, after signing for Rangers in July 1995, for a club-record £4.3 million.

Career statistics

Club

International + Appearances and goals by national team and year

TeamNatFromToRecordGWDLWin %Hull City15 July 199711 November 1998

Honours Monaco Ligue 1: 1987–88

Rangers Scottish Premier League: 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1994–95, 1996–97 Scottish Cup: 1991–92, 1992–93 Scottish League Cup: 1990–91, 1992–93, 1993–94

England U21 European Under-21 Football Championship: 1982, 1984 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Golden Player: 1984 SPFA Team of the Year: 1994 Ballon d'Or: 1987 (14th), 1985 (29th), 1984 (22nd)