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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – New England Revolution assistant coach Paul Mariner has resigned his position, effective tonight following the match against the Chicago Fire, in order to pursue a coaching position abroad.

Mariner has spent six seasons with the Revolution, joining head coach Steve Nicol’s staff in the spring of 2004. During his tenure in New England, the Revolution advanced to three MLS Cup championship matches, four Eastern Conference Championship games, and won both the 2007 U.S. Open Cup and 2008 SuperLiga championship.

"Paul has been a tremendous asset to the Revolution and was respected by every member of our organization during his time with us,” Revolution Vice President of Player Personnel Michael Burns said. “While we’re disappointed to see him leave us, we wanted to allow Paul to pursue this opportunity. We wish him the best of luck in all of his future endeavors.”

“I wish to thank everyone that I’ve worked with at the Revolution who have been so supportive, including the Kraft family and Steve Nicol,” Mariner said. “I have had a wonderful experience with this club, but I was presented with an offer that is very special to me personally, and I could not pass it up.”

Born in Bolton, Lancashire, England, Mariner was one of the top forwards in English football in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He earned 35 international caps playing for his country, and led the England attack in the 1982 FIFA World Cup.

Mariner started his professional career at Plymouth Argyle, before scoring his 97 goals at Ipswich Town from 1976-84. He then played three seasons with Arsenal FC and finished his English Leagues career with Portsmouth.

Among Mariner's many honors as a player are winning the 1978 FA Cup and 1981 UEFA Cup with Ipswich Town. He scored for England against France in the 1982 World Cup, after netting the game-winning goal in a 1-0 victory over Hungary that put England through to the 1982 World Cup.

Mariner began his coaching career in 1988 with Albany Capitals of the APSL, followed by a stint with the league’s San Francisco Bay Blackhawks. Before joining the Revolution, Mariner was an assistant coach at Harvard University.

Mariner has also worked as a color commentator on BBC North West broadcasts of the English Premier League and as an analyst on ESPN International and New Zealand television.

He has three sons, who all still live in England.

Paul Mariner on his resignation
“We’re in this sport for one reason, and that’s to win. All you can do is try to win games, then opportunities generally come your way. I’ve been close – I’ve been interviewed but I haven’t managed to pull one off. But that’s the way it is in football.”

How the opportunity came about: “There’s been a take-over of the club – American ownership, Japanese ownership – and obviously my connection with Plymouth from my early days. So the connection initially was to be a global ambassador for the club, to try to pull all the pieces together. England are bidding for the World Cup in 2018, and Plymouth want to be a venue for the World Cup. My guess is if England get it, they’ve got a very good chance of getting a site because it’s a little different, it’s got a lot to offer, nt only scenically, but also the way people can get into the area. Originally, I went over to do that, and then I had meetings with the new board, the manager – Paul Sturrock. (It was) a very similar situation to Stevie Nic(ol): we hit it off right away. He wanted to do some changes to his staff and he thought of me.”

On the Championship: “It’s a very difficult league, a very competitive league. On any given day, the top team can beat the bottom team and the bottom team can beat the top team. I’m going in with my eyes wide open. Obviously I’ve got to pick the league up, the levels, but I’ve got every confidence in myself that I can do that.”

“As we know, in football, things move very, very quickly; either you’re in or you’re out. When the offer came in from Plymouth, I immediately spoke with Stevie. I must say the New England Revolution, Kraft Soccer – Mr. Kraft, Jonathan (Kraft), Brian Bilello, (Michael) Burns – from soup to nuts, everybody’s been fantastic and been very understanding. They’re business people, they’re football people, and they know that it’s an opportunity that they didn’t want to stand in my way because of all the different reasons – financial reasons, career reasons and so forth.

“I had my exit interview yesterday and they said what can this organization do, and I said win an MLS Cup. That’s been my goal – our goal – ever since I’ve joined. We’ve come very close, but we haven’t made it. But we’ve done some good things, we produced some very good players, winning SuperLiga, U.S. Open Cup – I’m so very proud of what the players and coaching staff have achieved.”

“Every player in the world is on the table. We’re all experienced people, we know that in world football now, players from all over the world play in league. The financial situation is always important, but we cast our net far and wide.”

On MLS: “It’s a young league compared to all the other leagues in the world. I think that the job that everybody’s done from the MLS offices in New York all the way down to ownership, I think they’ve done a remarkable job to get teams to this position where you have the likes of (Cuauhtemoc) Blanco and (David) Beckham coming to play in this league, it speaks volumes.”

“I’ll be in Bristol on Monday night, ready for the game on Tuesday.”

“In football, there is not much sentiment. But if sentiment is involved in this scenario, then they gave me my very first chance as a player so I grabbed it with both hands. Plymouth Argyle is in my blood. Obviously the teams you’re associated with are the ones you look for every week, and when they came knocking on my door asking me to be employed there, I was delighted. I have a lot of friends back there, old friends, old players are still down there. When I went back there last time it was fantastic. So hopefully I can do a decent job for all the supporters and the board.”

“We were in constant contact with Steve (Nicol) all the time, and (Michael) Burns, who’s in charge of player personnel and ourselves. It’s a process. There’re are negotiations that have to go ahead and it went exactly as I thought it would go.”

“If I have a legacy, I’d like to think that I have the capability to work to two- and three-year old boys and girls all the way up to the elite side of the sport as well as the youth are concerned. I’ve built my own a club in a couple of years down in Arizona, which was 2,000 kids; then working my way up through college, working with John (Kerr) at Harvard, which I thoroughly enjoyed; and then working with Stevie (Nicol). Because I’m getting in years, I suppose I can say that I’ve work with two-year olds all the way up to tremendous international soccer players, working at the All-Star Game, it’s just been a great ride for me.”

Revolution head coach Steve Nicol on Mariner’s resignation
“He deserves to go places, and he deserves to get a head coach’s job, which I think is going to happen eventually. We’re certainly shocked that nobody in MLS has come in and taken him. Our American youngsters are going to lose somebody who has experience and knowledge to another place. So that’s disappointing, but obviously disappointing to lose him. He’s been a fantastic servant to the club. I can’t tell you how much he’s helped me. We’ll certainly miss him.”

Revolution defender Jay Heaps on Mariner’s resignation
“I think it’s great for him. It couldn’t happen to a more deserving coach. As someone who has been here like myself a long time, I’ve learned quite a bit from him - about professionalism, about carrying yourself. and I think he’s just an awesome coach, an awesome individual, and he’s helped my game out quite a bit just how by he approaches it. I think it’s a sad day for the Revolution, but a great day for Paul Mariner. I think MLS is missing out on a great coach, too, so hopefully we’ll see him back someday. But I think once he starts to fly, we’re not going to see him around – he’s going to be in some high level coaching.”