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Mark Warburton (born 6 September 1962) is an English professional football manager and former player who is currently the Sporting Director and Head of Soccer for Sporting Club Jacksonville of the United Soccer League.
As a player, Warburton was a right back at non-League level with Enfield and Boreham Wood. He began his coaching career in the Football academy at Watford, before moving to Brentford in February 2011, serving as a coach and sporting director until being appointed manager in December 2013. He led the club from League One to promotion to the Championship in the 2013–14 season and finished the following season with the club's best second-tier placing for 80 years. He managed Rangers in Scotland from 2015 to 2017, winning the Scottish Championship title and the Scottish Challenge Cup in his first season. He joined Nottingham Forest in March 2017, but was dismissed after nine months.
Warburton had a successful four years at Enfield, winning the 1981–82 FA Trophy and 1982–83 Alliance Premier League title. He battled for the right back spot at the club with Trevor Savage and scored his only league goal for the club past Boston United goalkeeper Kevin Blackwell in a 2–0 win during the 1982–83 season. After leaving Enfield in 1985, Warburton later played for Isthmian League side Boreham Wood, Scottish non-league side Stoneyburn Juniors and also spent time playing in Charlotte and Chicago men's leagues while living in the United States. Cruciate injuries ended his playing career.
Warburton was offered a permanent coaching job with Watford, at U9 through to U16 level and was appointed manager of the football academy in 2006. After a reshuffle in 2009, he became assistant academy manager for U17 to U19 age groups. While at Watford, he established links with Harefield Academy. Warburton left Watford in February 2010 to "pursue other sporting interests". Warburton later said in 2014 that he left Watford because he "had a fall out with one or two people. I was treated very shabbily, but they have gone now, so I've got no grudges against the club".
Nicky Forster was appointed caretaker manager of League One side Brentford in February 2011 and named Warburton as first team coach. Warburton had previously worked with Brentford owner Matthew Benham on the NextGen Series and explained that he "got a call from the owner at 1:30 in the morning, asking if I would come in to assist Nicky. I didn't know a lot about Brentford or know any of the players, so I stayed up for the rest of the night looking at player profiles". Following a successful interim period, Forster was given the role on a permanent basis until the end of the 2010–11 season. Warburton assisted Forster until the end of the season. After the departure of Rösler to Championship side Wigan Athletic on 7 December 2013, assistant manager Alan Kernaghan took charge of the team for that day's 3–2 FA Cup second round defeat away to Carlisle United. Warburton was included as part of the coaching team, alongside first team coach Peter Farrell.
On 24 June 2022, West Ham United appointed Warburton as a first-team coach, becoming part of manager David Moyes' backroom staff. He left the club in June 2023 wishing to seek out a more senior role in football.
A 3–1 win over Milton Keynes Dons at Griffin Park on 29 December sent Brentford to the top of League One and meant that Warburton became the first Brentford manager to win his first four games. The run extended to six straight wins after a 3–1 away victory over Peterborough United on 1 January 2014. Defender Alan McCormack commented that "a change in management often means a new man bringing in their own staff and own ideas, but he (Warburton) has kept it pretty much the same, just making one or two changes". Warburton's winning start garnered him the League One Manager of the Month award for December 2013. Four wins and a draw in January 2014 saw Warburton nominated for the League One Manager of the Month award for the second month in succession. A 3–0 home defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers on 22 February gave Warburton his first defeat as Brentford manager, ending a run of 19 league games unbeaten.
While briefing the team in their hotel in Canary Wharf on the eve of a crunch match against Leyton Orient in mid-March, Warburton drew on his trading background to demonstrate the pressures of the job to coach David Weir, kit man Bob Oteng and players Jonathan Douglas, Clayton Donaldson and Marcello Trotta, taking them on a tour of the dealing room at HSBC. Playing in front of the Sky Sports cameras the following day, a goal from Trotta was enough to see the Bees to a victory which returned them to the automatic promotion places in League One. Five wins and two draws in March meant Warburton received his third League One Manager of the Month nomination in four months.
A 1–0 win over Preston North End at Griffin Park on 18 April saw Brentford promoted to the Championship as runners-up to Wolverhampton Wanderers with three games to spare. In his 27 games as manager during the 2013–14 season, Warburton won 17, drew six and lost four. On 26 June, Warburton pledged his future to the Bees by signing a one-year rolling contract.
On 10 February 2015, an article in The Times claimed Warburton would be replaced as manager at the end of the 2014–15 season. A week later, a club statement confirmed that Warburton, assistant David Weir and Sporting Director Frank McParland would be leaving Brentford at the end of the 2014–15 season, citing the trio's differences with owner Matthew Benham's anticipated remodelling of the club's management structure, which would include recruitment being based on mathematical modelling and statistics allied to normal scouting methods. The Hounslow Chronicle later dubbed the saga "Warburtongate". Ahead of Brentford's playoff campaign in May 2015, Warburton revealed the truth about his departure, saying "I think the manager has to pick the team and have the final say, in my opinion. I think there's going to be a much greater emphasis on mathematical modelling than currently. There are certain aspects which I think have worked well at this football club, but Matthew's the owner and the board have made a decision". Between the outbreak of the news and the end of the 2014–15 season, Warburton was linked with the managerial jobs at Leicester City, Queens Park Rangers, Aston Villa, Derby County, Newcastle United, Leeds United and Norwich City.
Brentford's form suffered in the wake of the announcement of Warburton's departure, with successive defeats to Watford and Charlton Athletic dropping the club from 6th to 7th place and out of the playoff positions. On 5 March, Warburton won the London Manager of the Year award at the 2015 London Football Awards. A run of 17 points from a possible 27 (including a 4–1 victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage, Brentford's biggest ever league win at the ground of their West London rivals) saw the side rise to fifth in the table on 3 April. More dropped points saw Brentford go into the penultimate game of the season three points outside the playoffs, having won only five of their last 15 games since "Warburtongate". Two wins in the final two games and favourable results elsewhere saw Warburton lead Brentford to fifth position and a place in the playoffs, the club's highest second-tier finish since the 1934–35 season. Brentford's 2014–15 season ended with a 5–1 aggregate defeat to Middlesbrough in the playoff semi-finals. Warburton used just 24 players in the 2014–15 season, the joint-fewest in the Football League. Warburton finished his Brentford managerial career with 40 wins, 16 draws, 22 losses and a winning percentage of 51.28%, the highest of any Brentford manager. He departed Griffin Park upon the expiry of his contract on 30 May.
It was later discovered that one reason for Warburton's departure was that he vetoed any incoming transfers during the 2015 January transfer window, only sanctioning the signing of an injured Lewis MacLeod.
On 12 July 2016, Warburton and Weir extended their contracts with Rangers by a further year. Rangers fell far behind in the 2016–17 Scottish Premiership title race, as Celtic moved 19 points clear after winning an Old Firm match on 31 December. According to a club statement, Warburton, Weir and head of recruitment Frank McParland resigned from their positions on 10 February 2017. Warburton told BBC Scotland that he had not resigned and would seek legal advice.
In December 2012, Warburton held talks with Premier League side West Bromwich Albion about filling the Sporting Director position, but Baggies chairman Jeremy Peace decided to look elsewhere. Warburton oversaw Brentford being awarded Category Two academy status in July 2013 and the opening of a new purpose-built facility on the grounds of Uxbridge High School four months later. In December 2013, Warburton was succeeded in his Sporting Director position by former Liverpool academy chief Frank McParland, whom he had heard of through former Liverpool and current Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers.
On March 20, 2025, Sporting Club Jacksonville, an expansion franchise in United Soccer League (both USL Championship and USL Super League) named Warburton as sporting director and Head of Soccer.
His son Jack, was a youth player at Watford and Leicester City, before moving to Canada to play for USL Premier Development League side K-W United. He signed a six-month deal with Brentford's Development Squad in January 2015 and also represented Northern Ireland at U16 and U17 level.
| + Managerial record by team and tenure | ||
| Brentford | 10 December 2013 | 30 May 2015 |
| Rangers | 15 June 2015 | 10 February 2017 |
| Nottingham Forest | 14 March 2017 | 31 December 2017 |
| Queens Park Rangers | 8 May 2019 | 7 May 2022 |
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