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| Full name | Mark Aston | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1967-09-27)27 September 1967 (age 58) Castleford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Scrum-half | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Relatives | Cory Aston (son) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Mark Aston (born 27 September 1967) is thehead coach ofSheffield Eagles in theChampionship. He is an Englishrugby league coach, and formerrugby leaguescrum-half who spent the majority of his playing career withSheffield Eagles. He also had short spells withFeatherstone Rovers andBramley, and won one cap forGreat Britain in 1991.[1] In 1998, he was awarded theLance Todd Trophy after helping Sheffield win theChallenge Cup final atWembley Stadium with a 17–8 victory againstWigan Warriors.
Following the club's merger withHuddersfield Giants in 1999, he co-founded a new Sheffield Eagles club, and was namedplayer-coach. He retired from playing in 2004, and briefly stepped down as head coach in 2005 before resuming coaching duties in 2007.[2] In addition to coaching, he was held various positions in the Eagles boardroom, including CEO and Director of Rugby. From 2011 to 2017, he was also the head coach of theIreland national team. In 2012, he was awarded an honorary doctorate bySheffield Hallam University for his services to sport inSheffield, and received theRugby League Writers' Association Merit Award for services to rugby league.
He is the father of the rugby leaguestand-off orscrum-half;Cory Aston.
On 24 October 2024 Aston was suspended from all coaching activity until 30 April 2026 following an RFL Operational Rules Tribunal hearing. The tribunal ruled that Aston broke RFL rules by playing a player during a period when the player should have been rested for failing a head injury assessment. Sheffield Eagles had previously stood Aston down on a "no-fault" basis since the allegation arose in July 2024.[5]
Aston was born inCastleford,West Riding of Yorkshire, England.
He started playingrugby union at the age of eight in his home town ofCastleford. He played one or two games but decided to switch torugby league. He moved on toStanley Rangers, inWakefield, then after a couple of years until the age of fifteen at Oulton Raiders, where his father; Brian Aston had played as an amateur. He then moved toLock Lane for one season, then started playing at Under-17 level forCastleford. Despite an offer of aprofessional contract with his home town club, he decided to accept an offer from Sheffield Eagles. At that point he had been playing open age rugby for Selby Gaffers, coached by his father Brian, and had made his first Eagles appearance as an unnamed trialist on Easter Day 1985.
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