Mark Addy to retire from England management role

Drennan Team England’s medal-winning management duo of Mark Downes and Mark Addy is no more after Mark Addy announced his retirement from the international scene.
With his 70th birthday approaching, Mark believes that now is the right time to call it quits and he’ll be a hard act to follow after a glittering co-management career stretching way back to 2001 and taking in six World Championships wins on top of a host of European and Six Nations/Home International titles.
Add to that a successful tenure as former boss Dick Clegg’s right hand man in the late 90’s and it’s no understatement to say that the diminutive Manchester angler has been a key part of England’s continued success. Enough though, is enough or Mark as he hands the reins over solely to Mark Downes for 2017’s campaigns on foreign soil.
“I’ve had enough and to be frank, things aren’t like they used to be,” Mark told AT. “Most of the managers who were in charge of the other countries have now finished and nothing lasts forever so I think it is time to step down. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had a great time working with Mark, Dick and the various anglers down the years and have made some great friends around the world but I simply don’t get the buzz anymore.”
“I started to think about it after September’s World Champs and it took a long while to be certain because it is so hard to break away from something as good as this England team have been,” he continued. “However, the future is very bright for the team. Mark is a brilliant manager and he’s got a lot of young, hungry anglers around him to work with who have all fished at international level and know the score.”
Mark’s England involvement began in 1995 when he fished the World Champs in Finland and then in 1996 in Italy before stepping down to help Dick Clegg. When Dick retired, Mark and Mark Downes were appointed at joint bosses ahead of the World Champs in 2001 when England beat France and the rest of the world in Paris, a result Mark rates as his finest.
“Beating the French in my first shot as Co-Manager was a hard act to follow but looking back, we’ve had days when we were untouchable – I’m thinking Spinadesco in Italy in 2008 and Poland in 2013 when we obliterated the field,” Mark recalled. “I’ve also been blessed to work with brilliant anglers. Alan Scotthorne and William Raison remain head and shoulders above anything I’ve seen both at home and abroad in terms of ability, dedication and big match pedigree.”

Mark’s World Champs management record
2001 – First (France)
2002 – Fourth (Portugal)
2003 - Fifth (Slovakia)
2004 – Second (Belgium)
2005 – First (Finland)
2006 – First (Portugal)
2007 – Fifth (Hungary)
2008 – First (Italy)
2009 – Fifth (Netherlands)
2010 – First (Spain)
2011 – Fifth (Italy)
2012 – Sixth (Czech Republic)
2013 – First (Poland)
2014 – Sixteenth (Croatia)
2015 – Third (Slovenia)
2016 – Third (Bulgaria)

Medals total:
Gold – six
Silver – one
Bronze - two