Mark Hateley

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 headed goal in a 2–1 win against Inter in the Milan Derby on 28 October 1984; this was the first time Milan had defeated Inter in the Derby in six years. Arsène Wenger then brought Hateley to AS Monaco, his first signing for the club, in 1987 and he was part of the team which won the French Division 1 title in the 1987–88 season. 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, at the age of 28, Hateley returned to Britain in a £1 million move to Rangers on 19 July 1990, taking an 80% wage 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…

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.

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.

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