Mark Jonathan Briggs (born 16 February 1982) is an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach and former player who is currently the head coach of

Sacramento Republic Sacramento Republic FC is an American professional soccer team based in Sacramento, California, that plays in the Western Conference of the USL Championship, the second level in US soccer. Co-founded by Warren Smith and Joe Wagoner in 2012, th ...

in the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

Playing career

England and Denmark

Briggs began his career with

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

, joining them on leaving Sedgley's Dormston School in the summer of 1995. Briggs captained the youth team to a cup win at Wembley Stadium in 1999 and was Youth Team Player of the Year the same season. In 1999 he also signed his first professional contract. He made his first team debut in the 2000–01 season. After making 12 first team and 150 reserve team appearances for the Baggies, he moved to Danish football for two seasons with

Herfølge Herfølge is a suburb of the town of Køge, Denmark, located about 5 kilometers south of Køge, and is a part of Køge Municipality. The suburb is connected to Køge and Næstved by the Lille Syd railway line. Residential areas Holmebækhuse, ...

in 2002, where they were the Danish 1st Division Champions and won promotion to Supa Liga. Briggs then proceeded to bounce around the English and Welsh lower leagues, playing briefly for a multitude of clubs including

Notts County FC Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

, Shrewsbury Town FC, Hednesford Town FC. He then crossed the pond and played for

Kalamazoo Outrage Kalamazoo Outrage was an American soccer team based in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. Founded in 2007, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The franchise folded at the ...

before returning for a second stint at Hednesford Town FC. Briggs then went back to America and spent the 2009 season with the Wilmington Hammerheads before signing with Mosta FC in Malta, where he was Player of the Year in 2009, 2010 and 2011. Briggs then returned to Wilmington where he finished his career and transitioned into coaching with the

Wilmington Hammerheads Wilmington Hammerheads FC was a semi-professional American soccer team based in Wilmington, North Carolina. Founded in 1996, the team last competed in the Premier Development League, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid in 2017. History ...

United States and Malta

In May 2008 Briggs was convinced to cross the Atlantic by former New Zealand international Stu Riddle to play for

in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

as an over-age player. He played the PDL season in Kalamazoo, helping the team reach the PDL playoffs. After a brief stint back in England with Hednesford in the US offseason, Briggs signed with the

in the

USL Second Division The USL Second Division (commonly referred to as USL-2) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was at the third tier of soccer in the United States, behind Major League Soccer ( ...

in 2009. The Hammerheads won the USL 2 title and Briggs was the team's Player of the Year. Following the end of the American season, Briggs signed for

Mosta Mosta ( mt, Il-Mosta) is a small but densely populated city in the Northern Region of Malta. The most prominent building in Mosta is the Rotunda, a large basilica built by its parishioners' volunteer labour. It features the world's 3rd largest ...

of the

Maltese First Division The Maltese Challenge League (referred to as the BOV Challenge League for sponsorship reasons) is the second-highest division in Maltese football, behind the Maltese Premier League. The First Division was the precursor of the present Premier L ...

on a two-year contract on 1 October 2009. On 25 February 2010,

Charleston Battery The Charleston Battery are an American professional association football, soccer club based in Charleston, South Carolina, and member of the USL Championship. Founded in 1993, the Battery are one of the oldest continuously operating professiona ...

announced the signing of Briggs on loan then for remaining season. A spell with Tooting & Mitcham United, whom he joined for the 2011–12 season, was followed in December 2011 by a move to

Rushall Olympic Rushall Olympic Football Club is an English football club based in Rushall, a former mining village now forming part of the northern suburbs of Walsall. The team plays in the . History Early years Although football had been played in the villa ...

. In February 2012, he rejoined Wilmington Hammerheads for a second spell in the USL Pro Division. After the 2012 season, Briggs was named the Hammerheads Player of the Year.

Managerial career

In November 2016, Briggs joined

Mike Petke Mike Petke (born January 30, 1976) is an American former soccer player and coach who was most recently head coach of Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake. Prior to his tenure with Real Salt Lake, he was head coach of the New York Red Bulls, ...

's staff at

Real Monarchs Real Monarchs is a professional soccer club playing in the MLS Next Pro, a third division league of American soccer. The team is owned by, and operates as the reserve team of, the Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake. While the senior club is ...

as an assistant. Upon Petke's promotion to the

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 20 ...

senior team in March 2017, Briggs was elevated to head coach for Real Monarchs. On 20 November 2017, Briggs was named

USL The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

coach of the year after leading the Monarchs to the playoffs for the first time in their history. In 2019, Briggs joined

club

Sacramento Republic FC Sacramento Republic FC is an American professional soccer team based in Sacramento, California, that plays in the Western Conference of the USL Championship, the second level in US soccer. Co-founded by Warren Smith and Joe Wagoner in 2012, the ...

as Academy Director. Briggs was promoted to head coach for the 2020 season. On 7 December 2021, the Republic announced that Briggs had agreed to a new contract to bring him back for the 2022 season. On 13 July 2022, Briggs was named USL Championship coach of the month for June 2022 after leading the club to victory in all four of their league games and reaching the semifinals of the

2022 U.S. Open Cup The 2022 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup was the 107th edition of the U.S. Open Cup, a knockout cup competition in American soccer. After the 2020 and 2021 competitions were suspended and ultimately canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the United St ...

for the first time.

Honours

As player

Wilmington Hammerheads *

Regular Season:

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

As manager

Real Monarchs SLC *

Regular Season:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Individual * USL Championship Coach of the Year:

References

External links

Mark Briggs' personal site

Charleston Battery bio

with career stats {{DEFAULTSORT:Briggs, Mark 1982 births Living people English footballers USL Second Division players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Herfølge Boldklub players Notts County F.C. players Tipton Town F.C. players AFC Telford United players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Redditch United F.C. players The New Saints F.C. players Welshpool Town F.C. players Hednesford Town F.C. players Willenhall Town F.C. players Chasetown F.C. players Kalamazoo Outrage players Wilmington Hammerheads FC players Mosta F.C. players Charleston Battery players USL League Two players Northern Premier League players Expatriate footballers in Malta Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate footballers in Denmark Tooting & Mitcham United F.C. players Rushall Olympic F.C. players Isthmian League players USL Championship players Wilmington Hammerheads FC Real Monarchs coaches Association football midfielders English expatriate sportspeople in the United States English expatriate footballers English football managers