Career
He also had the distinction of scoring Villa"s first Premier League goal, when he scored their 84th-minute equaliser in a 1-1 draw at Ipswich Town on the opening day of the season. He also scored twice in the semi finals against Tranmere Rovers (once in the first leg and once in the second). Atkinson first came to prominence at Ipswich Town as a teenager, impressing seasoned experts with his speed and daring which included an incredible hat-trick against a Middlesbrough side containing Gary Pallister and future Ipswich captain Tony Mowbray at the heart of their defence in the 1987-1988 season.
He was an ever-present in the league for Sheffield Wednesday in his only season there, scoring 10 goals but being unable to prevent them from being relegated.
After relegation he was sold to Real Sociedad for £1.7million. He was the first black player in Real Sociedad"s history.
Nicknamed "el txipiron" (the squid) by Sociedad fans, he was part of an English trio at the Basque club, along with Kevin Richardson and John Aldridge, during the 1990-1991 season. Unfortunately, the Basques did not have a good year, although Atkinson made a good contribution over the season, scoring 12 goals in Louisiana Liga.
Nevertheless, the club"s hierarchy was dissatisfied with the behaviour of Atkinson off the field, so they decided to sell him after receiving an offer from Aston Villa that was close to the money the paid the year before for the English player.
The partnership was broken up in 1995 when both players were sold to Turkish clubs - Saunders to Galatasaray and Atkinson to Fenerbahçe for £1.7 million. However, despite an encouraging start, Atkinson failed to settle in Turkey and had loan spells with Football Club Metz and Manchester City before leaving in 1997 and winding down his career with spells in Saudi Arabia and South of Korea, finally retiring as a player in 2001. His statistics in the K-League are below:
Daejeon Citizen - K-League Regular Season 1 match, 0 goal / K-League Cup 3 matches, 1 goal
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors - K-League Regular Season 4 matches 0 goal.