Date / Year of birth: 2nd May 1962

Position: Right-back / Midfielder

Season of first appearance: 1979/80

Season of last appearance: 1997/98

Also played for: Ramsgate, Aston Villa (0), Dover Athletic, Folkestone, Canterbury City and Gravesend & Northfleet

Versatile 5' 9" tall player born in Ramsgate who was the son of Margate legend Bob Harrop. Mark began his career in Thanet youth football and was playing for Birchington Athletic during the 1974/75 campaign.

During the 1977/78 season he played a few games for Margate's reserves and then joined Ramsgate for the 1978/79 campaign. Mark played regularly for the Rams, despite only being 16, and he had two separate trials with Aston Villa during the season. In the second of them during March 1979 Mark played in a youth team game against West Bromwich.

In the summer of 1979 several other Football League clubs were showing an interest in Mark but he started the 1979/80 campaign at Southwood once more. By then his father Bob was the Rams' manager.

In November 1979 Mark joined Margate on loan from the Rams and he made his debut aged 17 in a 1-0 win over Canterbury at Hartsdown on 6.11.79. He played in midfield and gave a "spirited performance" according to the Isle of Thanet Gazette. The paper went on to say "his intelligent distribution and eager running undoubtedly earnt him a five-star rating". Mark made one further appearance during his loan spell but then returned to Ramsgate at the end of the month.

However in December 1979 he joined Margate on a permanent basis and manager Terry Morris said "I regard him as a lad with tremendous potential and I am very pleased to have him with us." He finished the 1979/80 season having made a total of 22 appearances and would have played more often had it not been for his Chatham House hockey commitments - Mark was still a pupil there at the time. He scored twice and his first goal for the club came in a 3-1 defeat at Folkestone & Shepway on 26.12.79.

Mark became a fixture in the side during the 1980/81 season, making 50 appearances (one as sub) and scoring five goals. He usually played in midfield, where hard work was a key element of his game, but also played as a striker on occasions. On 26.12.80 Mark scored with a 30 yard volley in a 2-1 defeat at Canterbury and the local press described it as "a goal that would have graced any 1st Division match". He also had to play in goal for the whole game against Bognor Regis at Hartsdown on 7.2.81 due to regular keeper Kevin Gilchrist failing to arrive for the match. Remarkably Mark managed to keep a clean sheet against the league's second-highest scoring team and the match finished 0-0.

During the 1981/82 campaign Mark made a further 51 appearances for Thanet United to take his overall tally past 100, despite him not turning 20 until the day before the season's final game. Mark had been due to go to university but problems with his grant meant that didn't happen. He spent most of the campaign playing as a centre-back and the Isle of Thanet Gazette said that Mark was "as steady as a rock". United manager Terry Morris called him "a pillar of strength" and despite his tender years Mark was an inspirational figure during the season, whether playing in defence, midfield or attack.

On 20.1.82 Mark played in goal once more when he took over after Colin Page was injured after 20 minutes of a game at Dover and performed admirably in a 2-0 defeat. In the return game against Dover at Hartsdown Park on 20.3.82 Mark was sent off for fighting with future Thanet player Bobby Wilson as United lost 2-1. Mark scored six times during the season and the best of his efforts was a low shot from the edge of the penalty area in a 5-1 defeat at Fareham on 27.3.82. He was carried off with a suspected broken ankle later in that game but fortunately it turned out to severe bruising which only ruled Mark out for two games - the only ones he missed as Thanet finished bottom of the Southern League Southern Division.

Mark spent much of the 1982/83 season playing in a sweeper role and the Thanet Times said that he'd "found his most effective niche". The Isle of Thanet Gazette agreed and described Mark as being "as effective as any sweeper in the Southern League." He made 41 appearances during the campaign and scored six goals, including both in a 2-0 win over Road-Sea Southampton at Hartsdown on 19.2.83.

Mark made 12 further appearances at the start of the 1983/84 season, all but two of them in defence, but then joined Dover in November 1983.

Mark stayed at Dover for a year, scoring from the penalty spot in a 6-2 defeat at home to Thanet on 12.9.84, and then joined Folkestone in November 1984.

In March 1985 he returned to Hartsdown and became a regular in Thanet's midfield for the remainder of the 1984/85 campaign. Mark made 17 appearances (two as sub) and scored once - from the penalty spot in a 1-1 draw at Basingstoke on 25.4.85.

In the summer of 1985 Mark joined Canterbury but he only made four Southern League appearances for City before rejoining Dover in October 1985.

He went on to set an all-time appearance record for Dover, playing over 450 games for them during a lengthy stay that lasted until the summer of 1993 when Gravesend & Northfleet paid £2,000 for his services. A few months earlier Mark had had a spell on loan at Canterbury.

The Isle of Thanet Gazette said he was "outstanding at full-back" as Gravesend won 2-0 at Margate on 22.3.94 and in April 1994 Mark was sent off in 1-0 defeat at Sudbury. He became the Fleet's captain for the 1994/95 season and on 2.12.95 Mark came on as a substitute as Gravesend lost 3-0 at Aston Villa in the FA Cup 3rd Round. He'd made around 150 appearances without scoring when he rejoined Margate in the summer of 1996.

Mark was one of new manager Chris Kinnear's earliest signings and the Isle of Thanet Gazette described him as "a model professional who never gives less than 100%". Kinnear told the paper "I know Mark very well and am certain he will do a good job for us." By then he'd played around 800 games in his non-league career.

Mark made his first appearance at right-back in a 4-1 win over Yate at Hartsdown Park on 17.8.96. It was the opening day of the 1996/97 campaign and it'd been over 11 years since Mark's last match for Thanet United and more than 15 since he'd featured in a Margate side. He quickly made the number two shirt his own and his calm, authoritative performances often caught the eye of the local press. The Thanet Times said he was "outstanding" in a 2-0 home win over Fareham on 30.11.96 and Mark was often described as being "tenacious". He was Margate's only ever-present player and ended the season having made 48 appearances without scoring. In May 1997 the Gazette wrote that Mark had "proved an outstanding signing" and described him as "a quietly efficient defender who has been a pillar of consistency". The article added "he never gives less than total commitment and is the perfect role model for youngsters at the club".

Mark started the first two games of the 1997/98 campaign at right-back but after featuring in a 1-1 draw at home to Trowbridge on 16.8.97 he lost his place in the team to new signing Iain O'Connell. Mark was out of the side for six matches before returning for a 3-1 win at Weston-Super-Mare on 20.9.97. The Thanet Times said he turned in a "commanding performance" but after one more start in the number two shirt he fell out of favour again. Mark went eight games without starting before replacing the suspended O'Connell for a 2-1 defeat at Chelmsford on 1.11.97. He played in the next two matches as well but Mark then unluckily lost out to O'Connell when Chris Kinnear picked his side for the FA Cup 1st Round tie with Fulham at Hartsdown Park on 16.11.97. Mark was an unused substitute that day.

After missing the Fulham tie Mark played in all but one of Margate's remaining matches during 1997/98, benefiting from O'Connell being switched to centre-back. In its report on a 4-0 home win over St.Leonards Stamcroft on 6.1.98 the Isle of Thanet Gazette said Mark had been "a model of consistency since regaining his right-back position".

On 7.4.98 he was in the side that beat Redditch 2-0 in the 1st Leg of the Southern League Cup Final at Hartsdown Park and Mark also played in the 2nd Leg on 21.4.98 which the home side won 1-0. That result meant that Margate claimed the trophy with a 2-1 aggregate victory.

On 4.5.98 he was Margate's right-back as they won 1-0 at Gravesend & Northfleet to win the Kent Senior Cup and it turned out to be Mark's last game for the club. He left at the end of the season having made 53 appearances (three as sub) without scoring during the campaign. In total Mark had made almost 300 appearances for Margate and Thanet United.

Mark joined Ramsgate for the start of the 1998/99 season and the Rams' manager Jimmy Ward said "I regard him as an outstanding capture...not only does his record speak for itself but I also believe him to be a model player who never gives less than 100%." Mark stayed at the club for 1999/00, also becoming the Rams' Under-18's coach, and in November 2000 he announced his retirement from playing aged 38 due to work commitments. He told the Isle of Thanet Gazette "I only ever had one bad injury - I suppose that was the luckiest thing about my career." Ramsgate manager Jimmy Ward told the paper "he's been one of my right-hand men for three years and he's been someone in the dressing room who I've been able to turn to. He always conducted himself professionally." Margate boss Chris Kinnear said "Mark was a superb player. He was truly dedicated - he never drank and he was exceptionally fit. He played with great pride and won as much as anyone at this level. Everyone has so much respect for Mark. He's got a great knowledge of the game, and he would have played at a higher level if he'd been a little quicker."

Mark returned to Hartsdown Park to become Margate's reserve team manager in the summer of 2001 and Chris Kinnear greeted his appointment by saying "It's brilliant news." Mark also came out of retirement to play for the reserves when required during the 2001/02 campaign.

In December 2003 he became manager of Ramsgate's reserves, taking over from Lennie Lee, and in March 2004 Mark became the Rams' joint assistant manager, working with boss Jimmy Ward. He was an unused substitute for the first team on a couple of occasions before the end of the 2003/04 season. During the 2004/05 campaign Mark worked as the Rams' first team coach before leaving the club during 2005/06 due to work commitments. He returned to Southwood as coach in the summer 2006 before leaving Ramsgate again at the end of 2007/08 season.

In the summer of 2009 Mark joined Kent League club Deal Town as coach and he was still living in Thanet at that time. He was working for the Department for Work & Pensions.

Mark left Deal at the end of the 2009/10 season.

In August 2011 he was appointed as Margate's reserve team manager but Mark stepped down within weeks due to work commitments before the 2011/12 season began.

On 12.5.12 he returned to Hartsdown Park ten days after his 50th birthday to take part in Bill Edwards' testimonial match.

In a 1980 programme article Mark said that his favourite singers were Rod Stewart and Abba and that the person he would most like to meet was Prince Charles.