Mark Warburton (born 6 September 1962) is an English professional football manager and former player who was most recently the first-team coach at Queens Park Rangers.

[5] A defender, Warburton began his playing career as an apprentice at Leicester City under Frank McLintock and later dropped into Non-League football with Enfield.

[8] After leaving his trading job in the early 2000s, he spent his own money travelling around Europe, watching coaching sessions at Sporting CP, Ajax, Valencia, Barcelona and Willem II.

[15] Nicky Forster was appointed caretaker manager of League One side Brentford in February 2011 and named Warburton as first team coach.

After the departure of Rösler to Championship side Wigan Athletic on 7 December 2013, assistant manager Alan Kernaghan took charge of the team for that day's 3–2 FA Cup second round defeat away to Carlisle United.

[21] On 24 June 2022, West Ham United appointed Warburton as a first-team coach, becoming part of manager David Moyes' backroom staff.

[25] Warburton cited a need to put his "fingerprint on the squad and coaching staff", which led to Alan Kernaghan and Peter Farrell departing the club on 16 December and David Weir's appointment as assistant manager the same day.

[34] While briefing the team in their hotel in Canary Wharf on the eve of a crunch match against Leyton Orient in mid-March, Warburton drew on his trading background to demonstrate the pressures of the job to coach David Weir, kit man Bob Oteng and players Jonathan Douglas, Clayton Donaldson and Marcello Trotta, taking them on a tour of the dealing room at HSBC.

[8] Playing in front of the Sky Sports cameras the following day, a goal from Trotta was enough to see the Bees to a victory which returned them to the automatic promotion places in League One.

[36] A 1–0 win over Preston North End at Griffin Park on 18 April saw Brentford promoted to the Championship as runners-up to Wolverhampton Wanderers with three games to spare.

[50] A week later, a club statement confirmed that Warburton, assistant David Weir and Sporting Director Frank McParland would be leaving Brentford at the end of the 2014–15 season, citing the trio's differences with owner Matthew Benham's anticipated remodelling of the club's management structure,[51] which would include recruitment being based on mathematical modelling and statistics allied to normal scouting methods.

[53] Ahead of Brentford's playoff campaign in May 2015, Warburton revealed the truth about his departure, saying "I think the manager has to pick the team and have the final say, in my opinion.

[58][59] Brentford's form suffered in the wake of the announcement of Warburton's departure, with successive defeats to Watford and Charlton Athletic dropping the club from 6th to 7th place and out of the playoff positions.

[62] A run of 17 points from a possible 27 (including a 4–1 victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage, Brentford's biggest ever league win at the ground of their West London rivals)[63] saw the side rise to fifth in the table on 3 April.

[53] Two wins in the final two games and favourable results elsewhere saw Warburton lead Brentford to fifth position and a place in the playoffs,[65] the club's highest second-tier finish since the 1934–35 season.

[72] Rangers fell far behind in the 2016–17 Scottish Premiership title race, as Celtic moved 19 points clear after winning an Old Firm match on 31 December.

[81] Following an unsuccessful application to become Brentford manager,[6][82] Warburton moved into the role of Sporting director in the summer of 2011, a new position created by an internal restructuring of the club.

[84] Warburton's links with the academy at Watford saw Brentford sign a number of players with Hornets connections, including loanees Dale Bennett,[85] Adam Thompson,[86] Rob Kiernan,[87] Piero Mingoia,[88] Lee Hodson and permanent transfers Harry Forrester and Jack Bonham.

[92] In December 2012, Warburton held talks with Premier League side West Bromwich Albion about filling the Sporting Director position,[93] but Baggies chairman Jeremy Peace decided to look elsewhere.

[94] Warburton oversaw Brentford being awarded Category Two academy status in July 2013 and the opening of a new purpose-built facility on the grounds of Uxbridge High School four months later.

[17] The inaugural tournament began in August 2011 and featured 16 teams, including European heavyweights Barcelona, Inter Milan, Sporting Lisbon, Ajax, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur.

[98] While manager of Brentford, Warburton signed a number of players who had put in notable performances in the tournament, including João Carlos Teixeira and Betinho (Sporting Lisbon),[99][100] Alex Pritchard (Tottenham Hotspur)[101] and Chuba Akpom, Nico Yennaris and Jon Toral (Arsenal).

I was getting up at 4:32 for 20-odd years, leave the house at 4:52, get the 5:02 train into Liverpool Street, at my desk at 5:45, getting home at 7pm and take phone calls through the night, orders from New York City.

[106] His son Jack, was a youth player at Watford and Leicester City, before moving to Canada to play for USL Premier Development League side K-W United.