| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Peter Marinello | ||
| Date of birth | 20 February 1950 | ||
| Place of birth | Edinburgh, Scotland | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1968–1970 | Hibernian | 45 | (5) |
| 1970–1973 | Arsenal | 38 | (3) |
| 1973–1975 | Portsmouth | 95 | (7) |
| 1975–1978 | Motherwell | 89 | (12) |
| 1978 | Canberra City | 11 | (1) |
| 1978–1980 | Fulham | 27 | (1) |
| 1980–1981 | Phoenix Inferno | 25 | (17) |
| 1981–1983 | Heart of Midlothian | 21 | (3) |
| 1983–1984 | Partick Thistle | 6 | (0) |
| National team | |||
| 1978 | Scottish League XI[1] | 1 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Peter Marinello (born 20 February 1950) is a Scottish former football player.
Marinello started his career at Hibernian, and could play either as a forward or right winger. He was regarded as being talented enough there that he was dubbed "the next George Best" by the British press.[2] In January 1970 he joined Arsenal for £100,000 (a club record fee and the first time Arsenal had paid a six-figure sum for a player) and he scored on his debut, against Manchester United at Old Trafford on 10 January 1970.
However after that his career quickly took a downturn, a combination of homesickness,[3] his celebrity lifestyle and heavy drinking[4] and a knee injury[4] led to a dip in form which meant he was left out of Arsenal's first team; he did not take part in Arsenal's Inter-Cities Fairs Cup triumph of 1970 and only played three matches in their 1970-71 Double-winning campaign.[3] Unable to break into the first team consistently in his Arsenal career, he only played eight league matches in 1971-72 and thirteen in 1972-73; he eventually left Arsenal in July 1973 for Portsmouth after failing to agree a new contract.[4] In total he played 51 matches for Arsenal, scoring five goals.
He later played for Motherwell, Fulham, Phoenix Inferno, Heart of Midlothian and Partick Thistle. Though he retired a wealthy man,[3] a failed business venture left him bankrupt in 1994,[4] and he suffered a nervous breakdown.[3] He now lives in Bournemouth, Dorset.[4]