23 Facts About Ian Atkins

Ian Leslie Atkins was born on 16 January 1957 and is an English football manager, scout, and former player.

Ian Atkins made appearances in the Football League for Sunderland, Everton, Ipswich Town and Birmingham City.

Ian Atkins managed Cambridge United and Doncaster Rovers as player-manager, and found his most notable success at Northampton Town, leading the club to promotion via the play-offs in the Third Division in 1997 and finishing as play-off runners-up in the Second Division final the following season.

Ian Atkins was born in the Sheldon district of Birmingham, where he attended Sheldon Heath School.

Ian Atkins joined Shrewsbury Town in 1973 as an apprentice and signed a professional contract in 1975.

Ian Atkins was captain of the club during his stint with Town, making 77 league appearances, although he could not help prevent Ipswich being relegated from the First to the Second Division.

Ian Atkins joined hometown team Birmingham City in March 1988, making 93 appearances and scoring six goals.

The onus was on Ian Atkins to regain immediate promotion back to the Football League from the Conference, Colchester having been relegated the previous season.

Ian Atkins made 41 league appearances for the club and scored seven goals.

In December 1992, Ian Atkins took the managers position at Cambridge United, but spent just six months with the club, unable to prevent them from relegation.

Ian Atkins returned to Sunderland as assistant manager to Terry Butcher in 1993, before being sacked alongside Butcher.

Ian Atkins was approached to succeed Steve Beaglehole as manager of Doncaster Rovers in January 1994, making seven appearances as player-manager.

Ian Atkins left in the summer of 1994 following disagreements with club owner Ken Richardson.

Ian Atkins became manager of Northampton Town in January 1995 and was quick to turn around the fortunes of the fledgling club.

In June 2000, Ian Atkins was appointed manager at Carlisle United.

Ian Atkins left Carlisle to become assistant manager to Alan Cork at Cardiff City in July 2001, but was sacked in October.

Ian Atkins rebuilt the team during the 2002 close season and the new-look squad looked capable of achieving a far higher position in the coming season.

Ian Atkins was suspended in March 2004 and then dismissed the following month for talking to Bristol Rovers about the possibility of taking over as manager, which he subsequently did.

Ian Atkins returned to management in April 2006 when tasked with the seemingly impossible task of keeping Torquay United in the Football League, after joining the club as an advisor to John Cornforth the previous month.

However, a run of four straight wins and a draw on the last day of the season lifted Torquay out of the relegation zone, and then Ian Atkins was appointed manager for the following season.

However, on 27 November 2006, Ian Atkins was replaced as manager by Czech international star Lubos Kubik.

Ian Atkins was offered the role of Director of Football, but turned it down.

Ian Atkins spent four years as head of recruitment at Everton before taking on the role of head of European recruitment at Aston Villa in 2016.