He made his debut coming on as a substitute for Mark Blake in a friendly against Wales on 5 December 1991 at Prenton Park.
[3] He was also part of the England under-21 team that won the 1991 Toulon Tournament, beating the hosts, France, 1–0 in the final.
[3] Atkinson had a brief spell working for Darlington's Centre of Excellence[citation needed] before spending five seasons as assistant manager of Northern League Division One club Newton Aycliffe.
[5] Atkinson stepped up to take charge of first team affairs on 1 October 2017 following the resignation of manager Martin Gray.
This biographical article related to association football in England, about a midfielder born in the 1970s, is a stub.