Mark Draper
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mark Andrew Draper | ||
| Date of birth | 11 November 1970 | ||
| Place of birth | Long Eaton, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder | ||
| Club information | |||
|
Current team
|
Notts County (kit man) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1988–1994 | Notts County | 222 | (40) |
| 1994–1995 | Leicester City | 39 | (5) |
| 1995–2000 | Aston Villa | 120 | (7) |
| 2000 | → Rayo Vallecano (loan) | 4 | (1) |
| 2000–2003 | Southampton | 24 | (1) |
| 2009 | Dunkirk | ||
| Total | 409 | (54) | |
| National team | |||
| 1991 | England U21 | 3 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Mark Andrew Draper (born 11 November 1970) is an English former professional footballer who is currently employed as kit man of Notts County.
As a player, he was a midfielder from 1988 to 2003, notably in the Premier League for Leicester City, Aston Villa and Southampton. He also played in Spain for Rayo Vallecano and in the Football League with Notts County. He represented England at under-21 level. In 2009, he briefly came out of retirement for non-league side Dunkirk.
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 recognised by County supporters as one of the greatest young players ever developed at the club. 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 – a record fee for the club at the time.
Draper spent the entire 1994–95 season at Filbert Street, playing 39 times in the Premier League (to which they had just been promoted) and scoring five goals, although it was not enough to prevent relegation for a side who were never out of the bottom two after November. Despite this he was called up to the England squad by Terry Venables.
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. He received another call up to the England squad, this time by Glenn Hoddle for a World Cup qualifier against Moldova. However, he stayed on the bench and was ultimately never capped for the senior team.
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