Mark Nicholas Stimson (born 27 December 1967) is an English former footballer and is currently manager of Hornchurch. He signed his first professional contract with Tottenham Hotspur in 1985, but was unable to gain a regular place in the team. In 1989, he moved on to Newcastle United, where he made over 80 appearances in the Football League. He later played for Portsmouth, Southend United and Leyton Orient before dropping into non-League football. He was appointed manager of Grays Athletic in 2002 and remained in charge until 2006 when he took over as manager of Stevenage Borough. He led Grays to victory in the Final of the FA Trophy in 2005 and 2006, and repeated the feat with Stevenage in 2007. In November 2007, he became manager of a Football League team for the first time when he took over at one of his former clubs, Gillingham, but he was unable to prevent the club's relegation from League One at the end of the 2007–08 season. He led Gillingham back into League One the following season via the League Two play-off Final, but his contract was terminated after the team were relegated back to League Two the following season. On 1 June 2010, Stimson was appointed as the new manager of League Two club Barnet, but he was sacked on New Year's Day 2011 with the club near the bottom of the table. He later had a spell as manager with Conference club Kettering Town. He led Hornchurch to the 2021 FA Trophy Final at Wembley Stadium, beating Hereford 3–1. Playing career Born in Plaistow in east London, Stimson played for the Essex county representative football team and was on the books of Queens Park Rangers, before joining Tottenham Hotspur on an apprenticeship in July 1984. A year later, he signed his first professional contract, at the age of 17. He made his Football League debut against Everton in May 1987, but struggled to gain a place in the first team, and was sent to Leyton Orient on loan in March 1988, where he played ten times. During the following season, he was loaned out again, this time to Gillingham, whose manager, Keith Burkinshaw, had worked with him at Tottenham. Stimson made 18 appearances for the Kent-based club and, although he was unable to help the team avoid relegation from the Third Division, his contribution impressed the fans, who voted