Michael Andrew Marsh (born 21 July 1969) is an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach and former professional player who is currently an assistant manager at Turkish club

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

. Marsh came through the ranks at

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and was part of their 1992

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

-winning side. He notably played in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

for The Reds as well as

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

and Coventry City before a spell in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

with

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Galatasaray and familiarly as Cimbom, is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul including basketball, wheelchair ...

. He went on to play in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

with Southend United and then in Non-League with

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

, Barrow, Kidderminster Harriers, Boston United and

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

. Marsh moved into management and had spells in charge of

Burscough Burscough () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the district of West Lancashire, Lancashire, England. The town is located approximately north-northeast of Liverpool and southwest of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. Its north ...

, Bradford Park Avenue and Northwich Victoria. He was a first-team coach at Liverpool between 2011 and 2015, working under

Kenny Dalglish Sir Kenneth Mathieson Dalglish (born 4 March 1951) is a Scottish former association football, football player and manager (association football), manager. He is regarded as one of the greatest players of all time as well as one of Celtic's, Liv ...

and Brendan Rodgers, before joining

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

as a coach in November 2015.
Huddersfield Town AFC. 9 November 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015. He left in May 2016 to take up a coaching role with the England under-17s, and was an assistant coach at Swansea City A.F.C., Swansea City between 2019 and 2021.

Playing career

Liverpool

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

or full-back, he was spotted playing for his local side Kirkby Town by Liverpool reserve team coach Phil Thompson, who advised manager

to sign the talented youngster, which he did on 21 August 1987. Marsh made his Liverpool debut on 1 March 1989 in the 2–0 win over Charlton Athletic at

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

, when he came on as a 58th-minute substitute for Jan Mølby. Marsh graduated from the reserves and established himself as a first-team regular in the 1991–92 season. His first goal also came during this season, in one of the most memorable matches ever played at Anfield, on 6 November 1991 in a

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

second round second leg tie against

Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...

. The game saw Liverpool turn a 2–0 deficit from the first leg in France into a 3–2 aggregate win. Marsh's 29th-minute equaliser swung the game in Liverpool's favour. Marsh was an unused substitute in the 1992 FA Cup Final and picked up a winners medal as Liverpool beat

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

2–0. He continued to be a regular squad member in 1992–93 and began the 1993–94 season in style with a great curled goal in a 5–0 win at

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

, but

Graeme Souness Graeme James Souness (; born 6 May 1953) is a Scottish former professional football player, manager and television pundit. A midfielder, Souness achieved his greatest period of success as an integral part of the Liverpool team of the late 19 ...

allowed him to leave within days of that goal when he joined

as a makeweight (along with David Burrows) in the deal that took

Julian Dicks Julian Andrew Dicks (born 8 August 1968) is an English football coach and former Association football, footballer, currently manager of Heybridge Swifts F.C., Heybridge Swifts. Playing from 1985 until 2002, he was a left back, notably in the P ...

to Anfield. Marsh had appeared 101 times for Liverpool and scored six goals.

West Ham United

Marsh signed for West Ham United on 17 September 1993 and made his debut the following day in the 2–0 win over

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

Ewood Park Ewood Park () is a Association football, football stadium in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and the home of Blackburn Rovers F.C., founding members of the English Football League, Football League and Premier League, who have played there since ...

. Marsh's time at Upton Park was short-lived. He spent fifteen months at the club, during which he made 61 appearances, scoring twice.

Coventry City

Coventry City signed Marsh for £450,000 on 30 December 1994 but he was soon on the move again after nineteen games and two goals in six months at

Highfield Road Highfield Road was a football stadium in the city of Coventry, England. It was the home ground for Coventry City for 106 years. History It was built in 1899 in the Hillfields district, close to the city centre, and staged its final game on 30 ...

Galatasaray

It was the manager who had allowed him to leave Liverpool, Graeme Souness, who wanted Marsh's signature. He got it for £500,000 on 26 June 1995, taking Marsh to Turkish side

. Marsh played three times in two and a half months for the team from

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

before he was on the move yet again to Southend United, whose newly installed manager was Marsh's ex-Liverpool teammate Ronnie Whelan.

Southend United

Marsh signed for the Shrimpers on 3 September 1995 for £500,000. Marsh made his debut on 9 September 1995 in the 1–0 defeat to Sunderland at

Roker Park Roker Park was a football ground in Roker, Sunderland, England, which was the home of Sunderland from 1898 to 1997, before the club moved to the Stadium of Light. Its final capacity was around 22,500, with only a small part being seated; it h ...

. Marsh had two good seasons at the

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

club, appearing in seventy-five league games and scoring ten times. The second of these seasons saw Southend relegated to the Second Division, the third tier of English football. Things got worse for Marsh as he picked up a knee injury which ultimately and prematurely ended his professional career. He had played ninety seven times for Southend, scoring thirteen goals.

Barrow and Kidderminster Harriers

As part of the insurance payout Marsh received when he retired, he was required to never play league football again, so he spent the remainder of his playing career in non-league. The first non-league side he signed for was Barrow, where he stayed for six months before moving to the ambitious

Midlands The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefor ...

club Kidderminster Harriers on 19 November 1999. Kidderminster were managed by former Liverpool teammate, and the man Marsh had replaced when making his debut, Jan Mølby. The Harriers were in the

Conference A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

looking to gain league status for the first time in the club's history. They achieved their dream by the end of Marsh's first season for the club, but due to the terms of the insurance claim, Marsh could not follow Mølby and his teammates into league football and had to leave after 24 league appearances, in which he hit the net four times.

Southport

Marsh joined Conference side

on a free transfer on 18 May 2000 and spent just over a year there, playing 37 times and scoring seven times.

Boston United

On 9 June 2001, Marsh joined another ambitious Conference outfit, this time Boston United, who paid Southport £15,000. Marsh's experience helped guide Boston to the Conference title, but once again he had to leave as he was not allowed to join his Boston teammates in league football. He played seven times for Boston, scoring once against Chester, but was a major influence within the Boston camp.

Accrington Stanley

Marsh's last move was to another ambitious club,

. Accrington won the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

that season, thus gaining promotion to the

. Marsh ended his career after one season at the Crown Ground on 2 June 2003.

Coaching career

After retiring from playing, Marsh was on the coaching staff of Southport. In 2008, Northwich Victoria appointed him as their first-team coach. He quit Northwich to become assistant manager at Bradford Park Avenue in November 2008. Later that month, he was appointed caretaker manager of Park Avenue after Dave Cameron resigned following a defeat against bottom-placed Witton Albion, he shared the role with goalkeeping coach Gary Stokes because he had commitments in Spain. Marsh was the head academy coach of Accrington & Rossendale College in East Lancashire. Marsh combined this role with his academy coaching job at Liverpool's under-16's and with his Master's football commitments. In May 2011, Liverpool announced that he was to move up to coaching the under-18 side. Marsh moved up to first-team coach at

before his departure from the club was announced in June 2015. On 9 November 2015, Marsh joined

as a coach under new manager David Wagner. In March 2016, it was announced that Marsh would leave Huddersfield to take up a similar position with the England under-17's. On 13 June 2019, Marsh was named assistant first-team coach to Steve Cooper at Swansea City A.F.C., Swansea City. In December 2021, he returned to his North West roots to become the new first team coach to Ryan Lowe at Preston North End. Following Lowe's departure, in August 2024, Marsh was placed on interim charge of Preston. After a 3–0 away defeat by Swansea City A.F.C., Swansea City on 17 August, Marsh announced that he did not wish to be considered for the post of manager on a full-time basis and left the club with immediate effect.

Honours

* 1991–92

with

* 1999-00

Football Conference The National League of English Football Clubs is a professional Association football, football league in England that consists of 72 teams, divided equally between the National League (division), National League North and National League South ...

with Kidderminster Harriers * 2001–02

with Boston United * 2002–03

with

References

External links

Profile
at the Liverpool F.C. website
LFChistory.net player profile
*
Mike Marsh index at Sporting-heroes.net
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marsh, Mike 1969 births Living people English men's footballers English expatriate men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Liverpool F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Galatasaray S.K. footballers Southend United F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Kidderminster Harriers F.C. players Boston United F.C. players Accrington Stanley F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Southport F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players National League (English football) players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. managers Northwich Victoria F.C. managers Süper Lig players Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Footballers from Liverpool Burscough F.C. managers Knowsley United F.C. players Liverpool F.C. non-playing staff Huddersfield Town A.F.C. non-playing staff English football managers Swansea City A.F.C. non-playing staff Preston North End F.C. non-playing staff Preston North End F.C. managers