 Wotte in 2007 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mark Christian Wotte[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1960-12-16)16 December 1960 (age 65) | ||
| Place of birth | Enschede, Netherlands | ||
| Position | Defender | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Sportclub Enschede | |||
| FC Twente | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1980–1981 | FC Vlaardingen | 33 | (4) |
| 1981–1982 | Feyenoord | 4 | (0) |
| 1982–1983 | FC Den Haag | 32 | (1) |
| 1983–1986 | SVV | 69 | (3) |
| Total | 138 | (8) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1983–1988 | VV Rijswijk | ||
| 1992 | ADO Den Haag | ||
| 1994–1996 | FC Lisse | ||
| 1996–1998 | ADO Den Haag | ||
| 1998–2000 | Utrecht | ||
| 2000–2000 | Den Bosch | ||
| 2000–2002 | Netherlands U19+U-21 | ||
| 2002–2004 | Willem II Tilburg | ||
| 2006 | Ismaily | ||
| 2006–2007 | RKC Waalwijk | ||
| 2007–2008 | Al Ahli | ||
| 2009 | Southampton | ||
| 2010 | Universitatea Craiova | ||
| 2010–2011 | Ismaily | ||
| 2011–2014 | Scottish FA (performance director) | ||
| 2015–2020 | Moroccan FA (under-23 coach) | ||
| 2020 | Al Wahda | ||
| 2022–2023 | Syria U23 | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Mark Christian Wotte (born 16 December 1960) is a Dutchfootball manager and former player. Wotte has managed teams in the Netherlands, Egypt, Qatar, England and Romania, and has also worked for theScottish Football Association.
Wotte played for Sportclub Enschede and FC Twente Academy, The Netherlands U.17's, and 1st Team Football forFeyenoord,FC Vlaardingen,FC Den Haag andSVV in his native Netherlands.[2] Injuries ended his career in 1986.[2]
In 1996, Wotte was named manager ofADO Den Haag, where he stayed for two seasons, before signing forUtrecht (1997–2000). He later worked forDen Bosch,Willem II, theRoyal Dutch Football Association,Feyenoord (technical director), andIsmaily in Egypt. He leftIsmaily on 16 December 2006 due to family reasons, to return to the Netherlands to coachRKC Waalwijk before moving toQatar to manageAl Ahli.
Having initially been linked withSouthampton in 2005,[3] Wotte joined the club as part of the new management team in 2008, with particular responsibility for the development of Southampton's youth squad. He was appointed manager on 23 January 2009, replacingJan Poortvliet.[4][5] Southampton drew 2–2 againstNorwich City in his first game in charge.[6]
Defeats againstSheffield United andBristol City left the Saints in relegation trouble. Wins againstPreston North End,Cardiff City andIpswich Town gave Southampton hope, but the club went into administration, due to financial problems. Unable to steer them to safety, Southampton were relegated toLeague One, where they would start with the 10 point deduction at the start of the following season. Wotte left the club after it was taken over byMarkus Liebherr in the summer of 2009.[7]
Wotte signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with Romania'sLiga I teamUniversitatea Craiova on 7 January 2010. He led the team on a good run, which contained victories against Rapid București, Vaslui, Poli Iași, Brașov and Astra Ploiești. However, after losing two home games, he was suspended on 10 May 2010 for 30 days, despite saving the team from relegation, being four points clear above the relegation zone. Following the suspension, Wotte got in a conflict with the Craiova's owner and left the club. In 2015 the CAS of FIFA decided the dismissal was injustice.
Wotte returned to Egyptian club Ismaily in June 2010. He coached his first competitive game on 18 July, in a game against Algerian sideJS Kabylie in the2010 CAF Champions League. After the public uproar in Egypt early 2011 causing temporarily postponingof The Egyptian League Wotte stayed until April managing the team before returning to the Netherlands.
Wotte was named as the first Performance Director and Technical Director of National Teams of theScottish Football Association (SFA) on 23 June 2011.[7] Wotte left the SFA in October 2014, having implemented most of the recommendations of a review conducted byHenry McLeish.[8][9]
On 1 December 2015, Wotte joined theRoyal Moroccan Football Federation. He worked as the football federation's National Youth Teams Coach. He signed a four-year contract until 2020. He was responsible for players born 1997-1998 and 1999 with teams U20 and the Olympic Team U23.[10]
In July 2017, he won for the first time since 2001 thefootball tournament at the 2017 Francophone Games inAbidjan by beating the home country CIV in the Final with the Morocco U20 team.[1] In 2018 he won also gold medals with Morocco U15/16 in Algeria and Tunesia.
In July 2020, Wotte signed a contract withAbu Dhabi side,Al Wahda,[11] however due to the UAEFA postponing the Pro-League competition and after one training match, he was dismissed in September of the same year.[12]