Career
Mark Ellis first came to the attention of Bradford City while playing for junior club Trinity Athletic in 1978, as an amateur, before he was taken on as a non-contract player in 1980. He made his debut as a substitute on 11 April 1981 in a 3–3 draw with Wigan Athletic, before signing as a full-time professional the following month. The following season he played 18 league games as Bradford won promotion from Division Four under the guidance of Roy McFarland. McFarland soon left and was replaced by Trevor Cherry, who gave Ellis more league games each season, and he was a regular by the time City won the Division Three title in 1984–85 starting in all but two league games. On the last day of that successful season his day was to turn into a nightmare when 56 spectators were killed in the Bradford City stadium fire in a game against Lincoln City. Following promotion, Ellis, nicknamed "Mega Star", found league games harder to come by, but he came close to playing in all four divisions when City missed out on promotion to 1987–88 on the final day of the season. But the season also proved to be a personal disaster for Ellis, when his career was nearly ended following a cruciate ligament injury in a 1–1 draw at St Andrews against Birmingham City. Ellis was out injured for more than a year and played just 11 more league games for City in two more seasons.
Ellis had been known as a tricky winger who had the ability to beat opposition defenders, and was later given a testimonial match against an Everton team featuring his friend and former teammate Stuart McCall.
He moved down the leagues to join Halifax Town and later Tadcaster Albion.
Ellis joined the coaching staff at non-league Guiseley in December 2006, to team up with his former manager Terry Dolan. When Dolan was sacked the following year, Ellis took over as caretaker manager on 24 November 2007, until Steve Kittrick was appointed new manager two weeks later. Ellis stayed on as part of the coaching team. In June 2008, he was appointed as Bradford City's under 16 coach, teaming back up with his former teammate Stuart McCall. He will combine the role with coaching at Guiseley. Ellis spent summer 2008 in the United States as Assistant Manager of amateur club Michigan Bucks of the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League (PDL).
Read more about this topic: Mark Ellis (footballer Born 1962)
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