Born on 18th December, 1975 - brought up on the Shankhill Road, Picking had a ball at his feet from a very young age.

He was part of the Manchester United School of Excellence as a youngster, but he spent the early part of his career at Distillery and Azamore Rangers before joining First Division side, Ballyclare Comrades in October 1996.

He made his Irish League debut as a fresh faced 20-year-old for the Comrades in a 2-1 defeat to Carrick Rangers in November 1996 and could only watch on in envy as Ballymena United ran away with the First Division title that season.

The following season 'Picky' and his team-mates made history as they were the first Ballyclare Comrades side to win a senior trophy as they lifted the Ulster Cup in 1997 - giving Mark his first medal of what was to be an impressive collection.

The diminutive winger continued to impress at Dixon Park and in January 1999, Coleraine manager Kenny Shiels shelled out £6,000 to take Picking to the Ballycastle Road.

1999/2000 seen Mark's second season at Coleraine finish in style as the Bannsiders finished second in the championship behind Linfield and also reached the final of the League Cup - but thanks to Picking's impressive form that league finish was enough to seal European football for the first time in his career.

Mark travelled to Sweden to face Orgryte in August 2000 for his first taste of continental football in the UEFA Cup. Marty Quinn's side finished a below-bar fourth in the league that season and Mark picked up another runners-up medal, this time in the Gold Cup.

A lifetime ambition was fulfilled in the summer of 2001, as David Jeffrey brought Mark to Windsor Park to play for the club he supported growing up; Linfield.

He made his debut in a Champions League qualifier against Torpedo Kutaisi in July 2001 at Windsor Park. He made a great impression in his first league game for the Blues - scoring his first goal in a 1-1 draw with Newry Town.

It was only a matter of months until he claimed his first medal at his new club as in November he won the League Cup after victory over Glentoran. Linfield finished third in the league but did win the Irish Cup - agonisingly though Picking was injured for the final victory over Portadown.

His second season was a tough one in South Belfast as bitter rivals Glentoran ran away with nearly every competition, as Linfield finished a poor fourth in the Irish League in 2002/03. Picking missed Linfield's only cup final that season in the League Cup again - which was lost to the Glens. Rumours of a move away from Windsor began to surface as the natives were becoming restless with Jeffrey's underperforming side.

Following the disappointment of the previous campaign - Mark's personal career reached some unprecedented highs in 2004. As he scored the winning goal against Glentoran to secure the 2003/04 Irish League title in front of a packed Kop stand at Windsor Park.

As well as also winning the County Antrim Shield, he also picked up the Personality of the Senior Shield award and was also named in the Northern Ireland Football Writer's team of the year, capping off a wonderful year for the 28-year-old.

The following season, Mark was part of the Linfield side that won the inaugural Setanta All-Ireland Cup as the Blues beat Shelbourne in the final. He also had another County Antrim Shield medal to add to his ever growing collection, in 2004/05.

The 2005/2006 season was an unbelievable season - even by Linfield's standards. As the Windsor Blues completed a domestic 'Clean Sweep' of the available trophies. Mark also progressed in Europe for the first time in his career as the Blues were unlucky to lose to Halmstads in the second round of the UEFA Cup.

Despite the team's success, Mark only appeared in one of the domestic finals - ironically coming on in the County Antrim Shield win over Ballymena. He also claimed his second League winners medal - but the end was nigh, as he was released at the end of the season by David Jeffrey; Bringing his five year association with Linfield to an end at 30 years old.

Tommy Wright finally got his man in May 2006, when the winger agreed a two-year deal at the Braid. Picking developed into one of Wright's best signings as his wholehearted style down the right flank quickly won over the supporters. He made his United debut Crusaders on the opening day of the 2006/2007 season at home.

'Picky' finish second top scorer with seven goals in his first season at Warden Street and hopefully there will be many more ahead of the new campaign.