Mark Draper came through Notts County’s youth system to play more than 200 times for the first team, as they won back-to-back promotions, each via the play-offs, from the Third Division to the First in 1990 and 1991. But County went straight back down in 1992 and, with the rebranding occasioned by the formation of the Premier League, they thus contrived to be relegated from Division I to Division I. Midfielder Mark stayed with them for a couple of seasons, but when the Magpies just missed another shot at the playoffs in 1994, he joined Leicester City, the winners of those play-offs, for £1.25m, then a club record. He missed only three League games in 1994-95, but it was Leicester’s turn for an instant drop. Aston Villa paid £3.25 million to keep Mark in the Premier League.

A regular for Villa over the next four seasons,  he helped them to a League Cup victory in 1996 and, already the holder of three U-21 caps, he was called up to the full England squad.

He would, however, remain uncapped at this level. Having fallen out of favor with John Gregory, Mark spent much of the 1999-2000 season on loan with Rayo Vallecano in Spain.

Then, after protracted negotiations, Glenn Hoddle secured his signature for £1.5 m, ahead of the last season at The Dell. He was in the starting line-up for the first five League games, but that would be his best run of starts. That said, he featured in the side’s New Year run of seven Premiership games without conceding, including five straight wins, scoring the only goal of the game at Middlesbrough and picking up the Man-of-the-Match award.

Whereupon, Hoddle departed for his “spiritual home” at White Hart Lane. Mark played a few times for Stuart Gray that season but would start only once for him in 2001-02 – in a 2-0 defeat at West Ham. Gordon Strachan, who was watching the match, now succeeded Gray. A loss of form and a severe knee-injury prevented Mark from ever playing for Strachan or, indeed, at St Mary’s. He failed to recover from his injuries and retired from the game.

He has since dabbled in property development, lived in Spain and had a few flirtations with football.  In 2009, he returned to Notts County as kit-man-cum-trainer and made a brief playing come-back for the Nottingham side, Dunkirk. He then had spells coaching at two further Notts sides: Radford and then Arnold Town. He spent a couple of years coaching in Stoke’s academy before setting up the Draper/Norton coaching school with an ex-colleague David Norton.