Mark Hateley

Early life

Hateley was born in Derby on 7 November 1961. His father, Tony, was also a professional footballer who played as a striker for such clubs as Notts County, Aston Villa, Coventry City and Chelsea.

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.

On 28 June 1984, he was transferred to AC Milan for £1 million. He scored a decisive and historic match-winning goal in a 2–1 win against Inter in the Milan Derby on 28 October 1984, beating out former Milan defender Fulvio Collovati with a header; this was the first time Milan had beaten Inter in the Derby in six years.

Arsène Wenger then brought him 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.

After three years at Monaco, a 28-year-old Hateley returned to Britain in a £1 million move to Rangers on 19 July 1990, taking an 80% reduction compared to his pay at Milan. 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.

As for Hateley's renowned 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. He linked with me. All the goal scorer does is he looks at the leader of the line and makes sure he's offset, fifteen yards away. 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."

In early 1997, with Rangers trying to win their ninth title in a row and with a long injury list, manager Walter Smith desperately needed a striker, and re-signed Hateley for £300,000 to play in the vital game against Rangers' biggest rivals Celtic. 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. "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."

International career

On 2 June 1984, Hateley was capped for England at senior level for the first time in a 2–0 friendly defeat to the Soviet Union. In his next game, eight days later, he scored in a 2–0 victory over Brazil, to date England's only away victory against Brazil. By the end of 1984, he had been capped six times by England and scored three goals. He played a significant role in England's successful qualifying campaign for the 1986 FIFA World Cup, scoring important goals against Finland and Northern Ireland. However England started slowly in the tournament itself and after two disappointing results (a defeat against Portugal and a draw against Morocco), Hateley was among players dropped, being replaced by Peter Beardsley. England won their next match against Poland and Hateley thereafter fell out of favour. He made the last of his 32 appearances in a 2–2 friendly draw with Czechoslovakia in 1992.

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.

Personal life

Hateley has been married twice,

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

In 2021, Hateley released his autobiography Hitting the Mark: My Story.

Career statistics

Club

International

:Scores and results list England's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Hateley goal.

Managerial stats

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

Individual

• Serie A Team of The Year: 1985
• SFWA Footballer of the Year: 1993–94
• SPFA Players' Player of the Year: 1993–94
• UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Golden Player: 1984
• SPFA Team of the Year: 1994
• Ballon d'Or: 1987 (14th), 1985 (29th), 1984 (22nd)

References

References

1. "England Football Online".
2. (23 October 2011). "Mark Hateley: Chosen by Capello and rejected by Clough but still kicking every ball". independent.co.uk.
3. "Mark Hateley league stats". Sporting Heroes.net.
4. "Mark Wayne HATELEY ("Attila")". magliarossonera.it.
5. Brera, Gianni. (30 October 1984). "A QUESTO MILAN ALTRO NON POSSO CHE INCHINARMI". La Repubblica.
6. (3 December 2015). "28 ottobre 1984: Milan Inter 2-1 Il fantastico volo di Hateley". Storie di Calcio.
7. (3 February 2016). "Ex Milan Hateley: 'Coreografia commovente. Che coppia io e Bacca, Mihajlovic l'uomo giusto'". Calciomercato.com.
8. in 1987 and he was part of the team which won the [[Ligue 1
9. Open Goal Meets... Former Rangers, England, AC Milan & Monaco Striker"] – Open Goal, [[YouTube]], 29 November 2021
10. [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=WtdAAAAAIBAJ&sjid=e6YMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2504,4301149&dq=mark-hateley&hl=en "Million Pound Mark for Ibrox"]. ''[[Evening Times]]''. 15 June 1990.
11. (11 May 2016). "Rangers and Aberdeen's epic duel for the 1991 Scottish title – 25 years ago". [[BBC Sport]].
12. (14 May 2011). "Flashback: 1991, Mark Walters and Scott Booth recall their part in Smith's maiden final-day triumph". [[The Herald (Scotland).
13. "Mark Hateley". Rangers FC.
14. (12 April 1993). "Goram Player of the Year". Dundee Courier.
15. "Mark Hateley: Rangers FC". Sporting Heroes.
16. [http://www.thefreelibrary.com/FOOTBALL%3a+IT'S+ATTILA+THE+GUN!%3b+Hot-shot+Hateley+is+back+in+town+with...-a061129833 "It's Atilla the gun! Hot-shot Hateley is back in town with Celtic in his sights"]. ''[[Daily Mirror]]'' ([[The Free Library]]). 15 March 1997.
17. McKinney, David. (17 March 1997). "Football: Ugly ending at Celtic". The Independent.
18. [http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Hateley's+in+heaven+and+Hull.-a061009627 "Hateley's in heaven and Hull"]. ''Daily Record'' (The Free Library). 16 July 1997.
19. [https://web.archive.org/web/20140611022051/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-18673576.html "Hateley sacked by struggling Hull"]. ''[[The Scotsman]]''. 11 November 1998.
20. [https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football-hateley-sacked-by-ross-county-for-being-a-jinx-1119287.html "Hateley sacked by Ross County for being a jinx"]. ''[[The Independent]]''. 19 September 1999.
21. [http://www.thefreelibrary.com/FOOTBALL%3A+MARK+HATELEY+dumped+by+Ross+County.-a060358534 "Mark Hateley dumped by Ross County"]. ''[[Daily Record (Scotland). Daily Record]]'' (The Free Library). 14 September 1999.
22. "Mark Hateley". englandfc.com.
23. ''Hitting the Mark:My Story'', Mark Hateley and Alistair Aird (Reach Sport, 2021) {{isbn. 1914197267
24. "Mark Hateley". Oncloudseven.com.
25. (1981). "Rothmans Football Yearbook 1981–82". Queen Anne Press.
26. "Mark Hateley NASL stats". NASLjerseys.com.
27. "Mark Wayne HATELEY". magliarossonera.it.
28. (1993). "Rothmans Football Yearbook 1993–94". Headline.
29. (1994). "Rothmans Football Yearbook 1994–95". Headline.
30. (1996). "Rothmans Football Yearbook 1996–97". Headline.
31. "Mark Hateley's managerial career". Soccerbase.
32. (2001). "Rangers Legends (Mark Hateley)". Mainstream publishing company.
33. Hayes, Dean. (2007). "Rangers 100 Heroes of the modern game". Mercat Press.
34. Benstead, Mark. (2005). "The Rough guide 11's Glasgow Rangers". Rough Guides.
35. "UEFA.com Under-21 1982-84 Overview".
36. (13 January 1995). "WELL BUFFED". The Scotsman.
37. Pierrend, José Luis. (26 March 2005). "European Footballer of the Year ("Ballon d'Or") 1987".
38. Pierrend, José Luis. (11 May 2005). "European Footballer of the Year ("Ballon d'Or") 1985".
39. Pierrend. (26 March 2005). "European Footballer of the Year ("Ballon d'Or") 1984".