Mark Aizlewood

Mark Aizlewood (born 1 October 1959) is a Welsh manager and former professional footballer who currently manages Cymru South side Carmarthen Town.

Having started his football career at his hometown club Newport County, making his professional debut at the age of 16 in 1976, he went on to make over 500 appearances in the Football League, most notably for Charlton Athletic, Leeds United and Bristol City, and gained 39 caps for Wales.

Following his retirement, Aizlewood worked as an assistant manager with Carmarthen Town on two occasions and later worked as assistant manager to Ian Rush at Chester City.

He also spent two years as the technical director of the Welsh Football Trust, being placed in charge of developing youth football in Wales.

He played for Newport for three years, leaving in 1978 to join Luton Town for a fee of £50,000, becoming David Pleat's first signing at the club.

Having previously captained Wales at youth level, Aizlewood played twice for the Wales under-21 side, making his debut in a 1–0 defeat to England on 6 February 1979 before winning his second cap a year later in September 1980 in a 2–0 victory over the Netherlands.

After four seasons at Luton, winning the Second Division title in his final year, he moved on to Charlton Athletic in 1982, again for a fee of £50,000.

He was later appointed club captain and was named the club's player of the year for both the 1984–85 and 1985–86 seasons.

Aizlewood made his debut for the Wales senior side on 25 February 1986, during a 2–1 victory over Saudi Arabia in Riyadh.

In 1987, Charlton received an offer of £200,000 from Leeds United for Aizlewood.

Despite resistance from manager Lennie Lawrence, Aizlewood decided to accept the move as the club were then managed by one of his boyhood idols, Billy Bremner.

Signed as a replacement for Ian Snodin, who had left the club to join Everton, he made his debut in a goalless draw with Sheffield United on 7 February 1987.

He became influential almost immediately, missing just one league match for the rest of the season as Leeds finished in fourth position and went on to reach the play-off final, losing to his former club Charlton.

Aizlewood was also appointed club captain.

However, the following season, Leeds struggled to repeat their good form, following the sales of Andy Ritchie and Ian Baird, and Bremner was sacked from his position as manager.

Aizlewood himself became a target for some fans frustration and during a Second Division clash with Walsall at the end of the 1988–89 season, he reacted to jeers by Leeds' own fans by displaying a V sign, an offensive gesture in the UK, to the crowd after scoring in the closing stages to make the score 1–0.

Leeds manager Howard Wilkinson quickly substituted Aizlewood, who blew kisses to the crowd and removed his captain's armband, for David Batty.

He reacted furiously toward Wilkinson and refused a seat on the bench, returning straight to the dressing room.

He left the club soon after in a £125,000 move to Bradford City, with Aizlewood keen to remain in Yorkshire where his family was settled, reuniting Aizlewood with his former manager at international level, Terry Yorath.

He spent one season at Valley Parade, making 39 league appearances, before moving on to Bristol City.

He spent three seasons with Bristol, making over 100 appearances in all competitions and scoring three times.

In 1993, he returned to Wales to sign for Cardiff City.

In his one full season at Ninian Park, the club narrowly avoided relegation to Division Three but did reach the final of the Welsh Cup, losing 2–1 to Barry Town.

He was also named man of the match in the club's 1–0 FA Cup fourth-round victory over Premier League side Manchester City in January 1994.

During the following season, Aizlewood decided to leave the club in order to take up a player-coach role at Merthyr Tydfil.

His last appearance came on 14 December 1994 as Wales lost 3–0 to Bulgaria in a Euro 96 qualifier at Cardiff Arms Park.

He finished his career having won 39 caps for Wales without scoring.

He later finished his career with spells at Welsh Premier League sides Aberystwyth Town and Cwmbran Town before retiring in 2000.

In 2001, Aizlewood was appointed as technical director of the Welsh Football Trust, a governing body of the Football Association of Wales (FAW), following the resignation of Mike Rigg, a role which he described as his "dream job".

However, despite increasing the trust's coaching revenues by 75 per cent during his time in charge, he was sacked in December 2003 following an altercation with a BBC camera crew and presenter.

During filming of an interview BBC investigative programme X-Ray, Aizlewood reportedly attempted to forcibly remove a tape from a camera and chased the crew from the trust's offices in Cardiff.

He was also accused of assaulting presenter Jane Harvey by "grabbing her around the neck and pushing her down a flight of steps" with Harvey describing him as "berserk".

In 2012, he returned to Welsh Premier League side Carmarthen Town as manager and lead the club to consecutive Welsh League Cup victories in 2013 and 2014.

His contract as manager was terminated after he was convicted of serious fraud in February 2018.

Aizlewood was born in Newport and grew up in the Ringland area.

His father was a steelworker who had moved to Newport from Wolverhampton.

As a child, he attended Alway Juniors School and then Hartridge High School in Newport.

His older brother Steve was also a professional footballer.

After playing for local youth club Cromwell, Aizlewood joined his home-town club Newport County at the age of 14, turning down an offer to join Arsenal.

Earning a wage of five pounds per week to cover expenses, he made his professional debut two years later at the age of just 16, whilst he was still attending school.