Rodney Marsh (footballer)

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Rodney Marsh
Personal information
Full name	Rodney William Marsh
Date of birth	October 11, 1944 (age 62)
Place of birth	Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England
Nickname	The Clown Prince of English Football
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	N/A
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1962-66 1966-72 1972-75 1976 1976-77 1977-79	Fulham Queens Park Rangers Manchester City Tampa Bay Rowdies Fulham Tampa Bay Rowdies	63 (22) 211 (106) 118 (36) 23 (12) 16 (5) 87 (41)
National team2
1971-73	England	9 (1)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 9th July 2006. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 9th July 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Rodney William Marsh (born October 11, 1944 in Hatfield, Hertfordshire) is a retired English footballer. He was named after HMS Rodney by his father, who served on the battleship. He played for Fulham, Queens Park Rangers, Manchester City, the Tampa Bay Rowdies and the England national side. Lately, he has been a pundit and a commentator on the game.

Contents 1 Playing career 2 Retirement 3 Music 4 Quotes 5 Notes

[edit] Playing career

Marsh was one of a generation of highly-talented "maverick" players who emerged in English football the 1960s and 1970s and never quite fulfilled their potential, along with the likes of George Best, Peter Osgood and Stan Bowles. He began his career with Fulham, for whom he made his debut in 1963, but his career there was hampered by injuries - a collision with a goal post and an opposing defender cost him the hearing in his left ear - and a dispute with manager Vic Buckingham, which ultimately saw him move across West London to join Queens Park Rangers, then in the Third Division, for £15,000 in March 1966. His first full season with Rangers was his most successful. He scored 44 goals in 53 games as the club became Third Division champions and also won the League Cup, coming back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 in the final, with Marsh scoring the equaliser. The following year, QPR were promoted again to reach the First Division, though they were relegated after one season.

In 1972, he was signed for Manchester City by Malcolm Allison for a then-club record £200,000. Upon signing Marsh (in March of that year), City were four points clear at the top of the table but by the end of the season had slipped to 4th. Marsh himself has since claimed that it was he who cost the club the league title that year, with his style simply not suiting that of the team. He nevertheless became one of City's star players, scoring 19 goals in 1972-73 and often dazzling the crowd with his skills. Marsh led the club to a League Cup final in 1974, though this time he was on the losing side as City were beaten by Wolverhampton Wanderers. He left the club shortly into the 1974-75 season after disagreements with new manager Tony Book.

Marsh revived his career with the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the NASL, where he made over 100 appearances. He briefly returned to Fulham during the 1976-77 season, where he linked up with old friends George Best and Bobby Moore before returning to Tampa Bay in 1977. He played from 1976 to 1979, and was a first-team all star selection in 1978. He retired after 1979, and coached the New York United and Carolina Lightnin' teams in the ASL, before returning to the Rowdies to coach their final NASL season in 1984.^[1] He was head coach from 1984 to 1986, and was the team's chief executive for 11 years. ^[2]

Marsh made his England debut against Switzerland in 1971 and won a total of nine caps, scoring one goal, which came in a 3-0 victory over Wales. His career with the national team was ended prematurely after he made a sarcastic comment to the then manager, Alf Ramsey. In a 2005 interview, Marsh stated that Ramsey told him ‘I'll be watching you for the first 45 minutes and if you don't work harder I'll pull you off at halftime," to which Marsh replied: “Crikey, Alf, at Manchester City all we get is an orange and a cup of tea.”. He was never selected for the England team again.^[3]

[edit] Retirement

Upon retiring Marsh became a pundit, earning a reputation for his outspoken views on the game.

He was involved in a long-running banter with Bradford City and its supporters in the 1999-00 season, in which he flippantly dismissed their chances of survival in the FA Premier League. Confident as he was in his prediction of their relegation he offered to shave all of his hair off if they stayed up, which they subsequently managed. Marsh honoured his bet and had his hair removed in the centre circle of Valley Parade Bradford City's home stadium, (see above) much to the amusement of Jeff Stelling and co. at Soccer Saturday, as well as the Bradford City supporters, who forgave him for his derogatory remarks.

During 2004/05 he made more derogatory comments, this time against Wigan Athletic. Marsh believed the club wasn't good enough to be in the Premiership because of their low crowds. In the 2005/06 season he said that he would let the Wigan public 'put him in stocks and throw rotten tomatoes' at him if they won more than 7 games. They did, and in the first 10 games, but Marsh has not honoured his bet.

Marsh was with Sky Sports for eleven years, but was dismissed in 2005 after making an ill-timed on-air pun. He joked that David Beckham had turned down a move to Newcastle United because of trouble with the "Toon Army in Asia".

This was a reference to the Indian Ocean tsunami, and a play on Newcastle United's Toon Army nickname and Beckham's supposed lack of intelligence. Many fans of the show felt his sacking was unfair. In 2005, Marsh stated that he disagreed with Sky's position, although he respected their right to sack him^[4].

On 18 October 2006 it was reported that Marsh had left TalkSport by mutual consent and would be spending more time in Tampa.[2]

[edit] Music

A picture of Marsh standing up in the sky blue Manchester City kit of the 70's is featured on the front cover of the 1994 album Definitely Maybe by Oasis due to them being big supporters of City. One member of the group at the time however, Bonehead, was a Manchester United supporter so there is also a picture of the Old Trafford legend George Best on the cover.

[edit] Quotes

• "You mumphead!"
• "That's a nonsense!"

[edit] Notes