Mark Anthony Lillis (born 17 January 1960) is an English former professional football player and manager. He is assistant manager of

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

club Scunthorpe United.

Playing career

Lillis was born in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. He started his professional career at

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

in Summer 1978. He played for Huddersfield for seven seasons before being sold in 1985 to Manchester City for £130,000. He stayed at this club for just one season, in which he finished Manchester city's top scorer with 12 goals and in August 1986 was sold to

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 188 ...

for £200,000. Because of knee problems, he did not play very often for Derby, and in September 1987 he went to Aston Villa. After that he played for

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

and Scunthorpe United before his playing career finished at

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an English professional football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, that was wound-up after a High Court ruling on 16 September 2020. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 ...

in the mid 90s.

Managerial and coaching career

Lillis took his first job as coach for

. Later, he worked for Huddersfield Town before he became assistant manager of Scunthorpe United in 1996. His first job as manager came in 1999, when he took the job at

Halifax Town FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...

, a job he had until September 2000. In 2002, after John Gregory had employed him as a coach at Derby County, and Gregory was suspended from the job, Lillis was for a short time in March 2003 caretaker manager of Derby. In March 2003 he also became assistant manager to Sammy McIlroy who was manager of

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

, and held the part-time job until October 2003. After that he became assistant manager to Sammy McIlroy at

, and when McIlroy quit the job in November 2004, Lillis became caretaker manager of the club until the 18 December 2004 when Chris Turner took over as the new manager. On 30 May 2006, Lillis once again took over as assistant manager to Sammy McIlroy at Morecambe. Both Lillis and McIlroy left the club by mutual consent on 9 May 2011, after a disappointing twentieth-place finish in

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

. In December 2011, he returned to his first club,

, to become their new Academy Manager. Two months later he was appointed caretaker manager after the sacking of Lee Clark. He remained in this role until the appointment of

Simon Grayson Simon Nicholas Grayson (born 16 December 1969) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Indian Super League club Bengaluru. As a player, he was a right back, but he was also utilised in ...

as the new manager, but was never needed as Town had no matches in the intermittent period. Following Grayson's sacking on 24 January 2013, he became caretaker manager again, this time taking charge of 5 match, beginning and ending with Town's

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

4th round tie against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

. His 5 games in charge saw Town draw with Leicester in the cup, get a 1–0 win over

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

, before losing 3–0 to Lillis' former club,

, then holding the runaway leaders Cardiff City to a goalless draw, then getting a 2–1 win against Leicester in the cup replay at the

King Power Stadium King Power Stadium (also known as the Leicester City Stadium due to UEFA sponsorship regulations and formerly known as the Walkers Stadium) is a football stadium in Leicester, England. It has been the home of Premier League club Leicester City ...

, setting up a 5th round tie with

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

side

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

. Following the departure of

Mark Robins Mark Gordon Robins (born 22 December 1969) is an English football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Coventry City in the EFL Championship. As a player, he was a striker and is best known for his time in the Premier Leagu ...

after a 4–0 defeat by AFC Bournemouth, Lillis was once again made caretaker manager on 11 August 2014. Following the sacking of Chris Powell on 4 November 2015 he had his fourth stint as the caretaker manager, this though would only consist of the Yorkshire derby against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

which they lost 3–0. As of August 2017 he is the assistant manager to John Gregory at

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

side

Chennaiyin FC Chennaiyin Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was founded in August 2014 during the inaugural season o ...

. On 17 August 2020, Lillis rejoined Scunthorpe United, returning as assistant manager to Neil Cox.

Personal life

His son, Josh Lillis, plays for Barrow as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Career statistics

Managerial statistics

Sources

* Mortimer, Gerald (2004): ''The Who's Who of DERBY COUNTY''.
Breedon Books Publishing, Derby.

References

External links

Manager profile at Soccerbase
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lillis, Mark 1960 births Living people Footballers from Manchester English footballers Association football forwards English Football League players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Stockport County F.C. players English football managers Halifax Town A.F.C. managers Derby County F.C. managers Stockport County F.C. managers Huddersfield Town A.F.C. managers Witton Albion F.C. players National League (English football) players Stockport County F.C. non-playing staff Huddersfield Town A.F.C. non-playing staff Morecambe F.C. non-playing staff Scunthorpe United F.C. non-playing staff Macclesfield Town F.C. players