Brian Atkinson

{{Short description|English football (born 1971)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2016}}

{{Use British English|date=April 2016}}

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Brian Atkinson

| fullname = Brian Atkinson{{Hugman|622|accessdate=16 November 2019}}

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1971|1|19|df=y}}

| birth_place = Darlington, England

| height = {{height|ft=5|in=9}}{{cite book |title=Playfair Football Annual 1997–98 |editor1-last=Rollin |editor1-first=Glenda |date=1997 |publisher=Headline |isbn=978-0-7472-5644-1 |page=43}}

| position = Midfielder

| currentclub =

| years1 = 1989–1996

| years2 = 1996

| years3 = 1996–2002

| clubs1 = Sunderland

| clubs2 = Carlisle United

| clubs3 = Darlington

| caps1 = 141

| caps2 = 2

| caps3 = 193

| goals1 = 4

| goals2 = 0

| goals3 = 11

| totalcaps = 336

| totalgoals = 15

| nationalyears1 = 1990–1991

| nationalteam1 = England U21

| nationalcaps1 = 6

| nationalgoals1 = 0

| manageryears1 = 2016–2011

| managerclubs1 = Newton Aycliffe (assistant)

| manageryears2 = 2012

| managerclubs2 = Spennymoor Town (assistant)

| manageryears3 = 2012–2017

| managerclubs3 = Darlington (assistant)

| manageryears4 = 2017

| managerclubs4 = Darlington

}}

Brian Atkinson (born 19 January 1971) is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder, either on the wing or as a central midfielder.

Atkinson began his career with Sunderland and played in the 1992 FA Cup Final. After 141 appearances he lost his first team place in 1996 and was loaned to Carlisle United. Later in the year he joined Darlington, where he remained until his retirement from professional football in 2002.

His 13-year playing career brought almost 400 league and cup appearances and 6 England caps at under-21 level. He made his debut coming on as a substitute for Mark Blake in a friendly against Wales on 5 December 1991 at Prenton Park.{{cite web |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablese/eng-u21-intres86.html |title=England – U-21 International Results 1986–1995 – Details |author=Courtney, Barrie |publisher=Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation |date=10 January 2004 |accessdate=25 July 2017}} He was also part of the England under-21 team that won the 1991 Toulon Tournament, beating the hosts, France, 1–0 in the final.

Atkinson had a brief spell working for Darlington's Centre of Excellence{{citation needed|date=February 2015}} before spending five seasons as assistant manager of Northern League Division One club Newton Aycliffe. He was appointed assistant manager at Spennymoor Town in February 2012,{{cite news |url=http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/football/northernleague/division1/news_articles/9558935.Atkinson_appointed_Spennymoor_assistant/ |title=Atkinson appointed Spennymoor assistant |author=Simpson, Ray |newspaper=The Northern Echo |location=Darlington |date=28 February 2012 |accessdate=17 February 2015}} and took up the corresponding role at Darlington 1883 (now Darlington) three months later.{{cite news |url=http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/football/darlington/9729779.Quakers_appoint_Gray_as_new_boss/ |title=Quakers appoint Gray as new boss |author=Stoddart, Craig |newspaper=The Northern Echo |location=Darlington |date=28 May 2012 |accessdate=17 February 2015}} Atkinson stepped up to take charge of first team affairs on 1 October 2017 following the resignation of manager Martin Gray. This role was short-lived, and in November 2017, he re-joined Gray at York City as matchday analyst.{{Cite news|url=http://www.york.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=511513|title=Video: Gray deeply frustrated despite winning {{!}} VitalFootball.co.uk|last=Ltd|first=Vitalnetwork|work=VitalFootball.co.uk|accessdate=2017-11-19}}