Match fishing legend Mark Downes has been rewarded in the King’s New Year’s Honours list with an MBE for his services to angling, seeing the current England boss join the likes of past recipients Dick Clegg, Alan Scotthorne and Bob Nudd in receiving the honour.
A part of the England men’s set up since 1975 when he was selected by the then manager Stan Smith at the age of 21, Mark has also played a key part in developing the England youth set up in more recent times, helping both teams to countless World Championships titles on both foreign and domestic soil.
“It’s a real honour to be acknowledged like this,” Mark said. “I was brought up in the golden era for team fishing and that will never, ever leave me. I’ve always said that a manager is only as good as the anglers that they have to work with, so this award is as much for them and all of the people I’ve worked with as it is me.”
“My whole family has supported me wholeheartedly – my wife Helen and myself celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary this coming year,” he continued. “Everybody quips that you may have been married 50 years, but he’s never at home! True, I’m afraid! I’ve also got to pay tribute to my brother Paul, who has been a real driving force in everything I’ve achieved both as an angler and as a brother.”
Mark’s partnership with Mark Addy when they took over the England reigns from Dick Clegg in 2000 has to rank as one of the most successful that match fishing has ever seen. Just 12 months into the job England won the world Champs in Paris before going on a run that produced further world titles in 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2010. To that little lot individual titles for Alan Scotthorne (twice), William Raison and Sean Ashby can also be added.
Mark fished for England from 1965 through until the early 90s, when has made the decision to step aside and go down the management route, initially as Dick’s right hand man.
“I’d been captain of Starlets since I was 20, so it was a natural progression – I’ve always enjoyed the tactical and logistical side of things, and I felt I could do as better job from on top of the bank than actually being sat on it!” he explained. “However, I felt that the management needed to see upcoming international skills-based talent and how they were progressing, which is why I took on board overseeing the Youth teams. We didn’t have an under 14 team to begin with, so I went out and raised the money to make it happen. Now we’ve got three teams and a steady stream of talent with international experience coming through. Indeed, 50% of the current seniors team have come through the ranks, with more to come, so it shows how important it all was.”
All good things come to an end though, and at 71 years of age, is retirement on the horizon? Not yet…
“As long as I’m fit and enthusiastic, I’ll keep going,” Mark revealed. “What’s more important though, it so surround myself with anglers that contribute to the cause. I want to bring in extra people to help advise and lessen the load, with an eye on guaranteeing progression for the future. At the moment, though I’m focused on winning medals with Summer, with the gold the ultimate goal.”
