Doncaster Rovers
Mark Rankine played for which team from 1987 to 1992?
Mark Rankine Simon Mark Rankine ( born 30 September 1969 ) is an English former footballer , who played over 700 games in English football in a 19-year career . Club career . Early career . Rankine began his career as a schoolboy at Manchester United , but was not offered a YTS contract and was released . He subsequently joined his hometown club Doncaster Rovers and progressed through their youth system , being part of the team that reached the . Doncaster Rovers . Rankine made his senior debut on 15 August 1987 in a 1–0 win over Grimsby Town in the Third Division . The club were relegated to the fourth tier that season , but Rankine had managed to become a regular member of the first-team squad . The following season , he was an ever-present , scoring 11 goals during the season . After two further seasons as a mainstay of the Doncaster midfield , he attracted interest from other clubs . Wolverhampton Wanderers . He was eventually sold to Wolverhampton Wanderers of the Second Division for £70,000 in January 1992 . Rankine made his Wolves debut as a substitute on 1 February 1992 in a 1–0 win over Leicester City . Although not as much an automatic choice as at his previous club , Rankine still featured regularly , amassing 167 appearances in total ( though scoring just once ) for the club over a four-and-a-half-year stay . Preston North End . By the start of the 1996–97 season he was no longer part of manager Mark McGhees plans and was sold to Preston North End for £100,000 in September 1996 . Rankine went on to make more appearances for Preston than for any of his other clubs over a seven-year association . The club were newly promoted to the third tier at the time of his arrival , and he achieved a further promotion with them in the 1999–2000 season as champions . The following season saw him almost achieve Premier League football as he scored a late goal which helped them beat Birmingham City to reach the play-off final . After doing so he achieved legend status at North End and is nowadays looked upon by many Preston fans as a club hero . However , they lost 3–0 to Bolton Wanderers in that final . Sheffield United . After Craig Brown had replaced David Moyes as Preston manager for the 2002–03 season , Rankine found his place under threat and he finished the campaign on loan at Sheffield United . This move offered him a second chance at promotion as United reached the play-off final , but Rankine again missed out on top-flight football as they lost to his former club Wolverhampton Wanderers ( inflicting a second successive 3–0 final defeat on him ) . Despite this disappointment , Sheffield United retained Rankines services , signing him permanently in July 2003 . He remained at Bramall Lane for just one full season before his contract expired and he left for Tranmere Rovers . Tranmere Rovers . Rankines first season with Tranmere saw him again reach the play-offs but they lost their semi-final tie on penalties to Hartlepool United . He had planned to retire at the end of the campaign but decided to sign a one-year extension in the close season . His second season was more of a struggle , and he opted to have his contract terminated by mutual consent and retire before the seasons conclusion after finding it tough to play as regularly aged 36 . Rankine scored once during his spell at Tranmere , in a 2–1 Football League Trophy win over Lincoln City on 18 October 2005 . After football . In 2008 Rankine started working as a football agent . Personal life . He is the uncle of footballer Michael Rankine , Danny Rose , and Mitch Rose who also play football professionally in England .