years clubs caps goals birth_place nationalteam height article_title position nationalcaps nationalyears birth_date currentclub name nationalgoals
1989 -- 1996 1996 1996 -- 2002 sunderland carlisle united darlington 141 2 193 4 0 11 darlington , england england u21 5 9 brian atkinson
 midfielder 6 1990 -- 1991 19 january 1971 darlington 1883 -lrb- assistant manager -rrb- brian atkinson 0
brian atkinson

brian atkinson -lrb- born 19 january 1971 -rrb- 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 .
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 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 , and took up the corresponding role at darlington 1883 three months later .
