Rodney William Marsh (born 11 October 1944) is an English former
footballer and football coach; he later worked as a broadcaster. A
forward
Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward.
Forward may also refer to:
People
* Forward (surname)
Sports
* Forward (association football)
* Forward (basketball), including:
** Point forward
** Power forward (basketball)
** Sm ...
, he won nine caps for
England between 1971 and 1973, scoring one international goal.
Brought up in the
East End of London
The East End of London, often referred to within the London area simply as the East End, is the historic core of wider East London, east of the Roman and medieval walls of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It does not have uni ...
, he played youth football for
West Ham United before he made his professional debut with
Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...
in March 1963. He scored 22 goals in 63
First Division games before falling out with the management and taking a £15,000 transfer to
Queens Park Rangers in March 1966. He helped the club to the
1967
Events
January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 5
** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...
League Cup and to consecutive promotions through the
Third Division
In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below.
Association football
*Belgian Thir ...
and
Second Division. In March 1972 he was sold to
Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
for £200,000. He featured in the
1974
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...
League Cup final defeat but his time in Manchester was largely disappointing and he left the UK the following year to play for American club
Tampa Bay Rowdies.
He had a successful career with the Rowdies and went on to coach the club from 1984 to 1986 after previously having brief spells coaching
New York United
The New York Greeks was an American soccer club based in New York City that was a member of the American Soccer League (1933-1983), American Soccer League.
The team began as the amateur Greek-Americans. The club played lower Premier Division of th ...
and the
Carolina Lightnin'. In the 1990s he began work as a broadcaster on
Sky Sports, before he was sacked in January 2005. Since that time he has appeared on numerous reality television shows, and helped to run an American-based property development company with his son. In 2015, Marsh started co-hosting a radio show about football on
SiriusXM, titled ''Grumpy Pundits''. His co-host is Irish broadcaster Tommy Smyth.
Early life
Marsh was born in
Hatfield,
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
to Lilian Dredge, a
housewife, and William Marsh, a
docker.
He grew up in Palatine Road,
Stoke Newington
Stoke Newington is an area occupying the north-west part of the London Borough of Hackney in north-east London, England. It is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington the ancient parish.
The ...
, and his parents only spent a few days in Hertfordshire so his mother could avoid going into labour during
the Blitz.
Marsh had a rough upbringing as a child, particularly from his father, and in his autobiography said that this tough upbringing left him emotionally traumatised. His father came from an even more violent family, and was partially crippled at the age of 19 after being attacked by his father with a hammer. An only child, Marsh described his family as "incredibly poor" and until the age of 11 he slept in the corner of his parents' bedroom – the family shared a three-storey house with two other families and the only other room they had was a living room. He attended
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
matches at
Highbury with his father, and also went along to see
reserve team matches.
The family's poverty came to an end just as Marsh was beginning his professional football career – his father helped the landlord to fill out his weekly pool coupon, and the landlord had a massive win shortly before his death and left the house to Marsh's father in his will.
Marsh played alongside
Ron "Chopper" Harris for
Hackney Schools, scoring all three goals as Hackney won the schools national championship. His father secured him a trial for the
West Ham United under-16s, and he impressed enough to land himself a place in the academy.
However, he was released after ten months by
Wally St Pier, who let Marsh go to open up a place on the youth team for
Geoff Hurst. Soon before his sixteenth birthday, Marsh was spotted by scout Bill Brown, who offered him a place in
Fulham's youth programme.
Playing career
Fulham
Marsh began his career with
First Division side
Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...
, and made his debut against
Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
at
Craven Cottage on 23 March 1963 after
Johnny Haynes picked up an injury.
He scored the winning goal on his debut with a volley from a
George Cohen
George Reginald Cohen (22 October 1939 – 23 December 2022) was an English professional footballer who played as a right-back. He spent his entire professional career with Fulham, and won the 1966 World Cup with England. He was inducted i ...
cross, prompting manager
Bedford Jezzard to state that "No boy could have had a better first game".
Haynes returned to the starting line-up the next week, but Marsh was accommodated with the number eight shirt.
In September 1963, he collided with
John Sjoberg whilst scoring a winning goal against
Leicester City and was ruled out of action for ten months with a broken jaw and skull.
The incident left him with a permanent loss of hearing in his left ear.
For weeks he was unable to keep his balance whilst standing, and he was told by one specialist that he would never play football again.
He returned to fitness in the
1964–65 season and was utilized at centre forward, and formed an effective partnership with Haynes to secure 17 goals to become the
club's top-scorer.
However manager
Bedford Jezzard left the club and Marsh did not get along with new boss
Vic Buckingham.
He ridiculed Buckingham, who in turn froze Marsh out of the first team.
Queens Park Rangers
Marsh moved
across West London to join
Queens Park Rangers, then in the
Third Division
In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below.
Association football
*Belgian Thir ...
, after manager
Alec Stock paid out a £15,000 fee in March 1966.
QPR finished third at the end of the
1965–66 campaign, eight points outside promoted
Millwall.
His
first full season with Rangers was his most successful, as he formed an effective strike partnership with
Les Allen, whilst
Roger Morgan and
Mark Lazarus delivered reliable service from the wings.
Marsh scored his first hat-trick for the club in a 4–0 win over
Middlesbrough.
He scored 44 goals in 53 games as the club became Third Division champions; his 30 league goals made him the division's
top-scorer. QPR also won the
League Cup, with Marsh setting Rangers on their way with four goals during a 5–0 victory over
Colchester United at
Layer Road.
They needed a replay to overcome
Aldershot, before they beat
Swansea Town, top-flight
Leicester City,
Carlisle United
Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Par ...
and
Birmingham City. Their opponents in the
Wembley final were
West Bromwich Albion, who had won the cup the previous year. The "Baggies" took a two-goal lead before half-time, but Rangers fought back in the second half and on the 75th minute Marsh scored what he described as "the defining goal of my career" when he made a mazy run past numerous defenders before finding the net with a 25-yard shot that went in off the post.
Lazarus scored QPR's third goal six minutes later to win the game 3–2. A week after the final
Tottenham Hotspur manager witnessed Marsh put in a strong performance against
Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic
AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as Bo ...
and he offered to pay QPR £180,000 for Marsh and Morgan, but his offer was rejected by chairman
Jim Gregory.
The
1967–68 season saw a second successive promotion as QPR reached the
First Division as runners-up in the
Second Division, ahead of
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
on goal average. Marsh was again top-scorer with 14 goals despite missing the start of the season with a broken foot.
He signed a new four-year contract in the summer.
Rangers were unable to compete in the top-flight, and Marsh himself struggled with injury as the club suffered relegation with only 18 points to their name.
He broke his foot in pre-season training for the
1968–69 campaign and missed the opening months; during this time the club struggled as Stock resigned before the season started, and he was replaced by
Bill Dodgin in a caretaker capacity. By the time Marsh recovered from his injury manager
Tommy Docherty's first 28-day spell in charge at
Loftus Road had come and gone.
In summer 1969, Marsh was sent off in a friendly against
Rangers
A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to:
* Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...
after punching
Kai Johansen in retaliation for a kick Johansen gave Marsh. In the
1969–70 season he and
Barry Bridges shared 46 goals equally between them, as QPR finished in ninth position. They also reached the quarter-finals of the
FA Cup, which was then the club's joint-best achievement in the competition.
Marsh again hit 23 goals in the
1970–71 campaign, as Rangers again finished in mid-table obscurity under the stewardship of
Gordon Jago. However Marsh lost his captaincy to new signing
Terry Venables.
He hit 20 goals in the
1971–72 season to finish as the club's top-scorer for the second successive season. Before the season began he signed a new contract on the understanding that he would leave the club if they could not achieve promotion by the end of the season.
QPR were still in the hunt for promotion by the time that Marsh was sold – they eventually finished a few points short, however the sum offered by
Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
was too much for the club to refuse.
Manchester City
In March 1972, he was signed for
Manchester City
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...
by
Malcolm Allison
Malcolm Alexander Allison (5 September 1927 – 14 October 2010) was an English football player and manager. Nicknamed "Big Mal", he was one of English football's most flamboyant and intriguing characters because of his panache, fedora and ...
for a
then-club record £200,000.
City were four points clear at the top of the table when Marsh was signed, but by the end of
the season they had slipped to fourth.
Many pundits criticised the signing, pointing out that Marsh was a maverick player ill-suited to Allison's well-drilled set-up.
He initially replaced
Wyn Davies
Ronald Wyn Davies (born 20 March 1942) is a Welsh former professional footballer who made over 550 Football League appearances in the 1960s and 1970s, and who was also capped by Wales.
Domestic career
Although he began his career with Wrexham, ...
up front in a 4-4-2 formation, before playing alongside Davies,
Mike Summerbee and
Francis Lee Francis Lee may refer to:
*Francis Lee (director), English actor and film director of ''God's Own Country''
*Francis Lee (footballer) (1944–2023), English professional footballer.
*Francis Lee (physician) (1661–1719), English writer known for h ...
in a 4-2-4 set-up.
Marsh became
City's top-scorer, scoring 19 goals in
1972–73. However the club entered into a decline when Allison resigned in March 1973; over the next year
Johnny Hart,
Tony Book and
Ron Saunders all had spells as City manager. The "Sky Blues" finished 11th in 1972–73 and 14th in
1973–74. They did though reach
the final of the
League Cup in 1974, losing 2–1 to
Wolverhampton Wanderers at
Wembley. Marsh was so disappointed by the defeat he threw away his runners-up medal.
Tony Book started his second spell as City's manager in April 1974, and despite being club captain Marsh showed no respect for Book. City finished eighth in
1974–75 and
1975–76. Marsh was transfer-listed and sent to train with the reserves after chairman
Peter Swales told Book the details of a private conversation the pair had held:
If you think I'm effing useless it's not going to work. Do you want to take it back? (Book)
No chance. In fact, thinking about it more, you're not that good. (Marsh)
Later career
In the middle of 1975 Marsh played a handful of matches for
Cork Hibernians for a fee of £600 a game. He later was flown to
Los Angeles as a guest of
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
, who was then chairman of the Los Angeles Aztecs in the North American Soccer League (1968–1984), NASL, but before he agreed to join the club he was approached in January 1976 by the Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993), Tampa Bay Rowdies. He was sold to the Rowdies in April 1976 for a £40,000 fee.
He made two oft-quoted remarks during his transfer, stating that "football in England had become a grey game, played on grey days by grey people" and upon arriving in America he announced that "Pelé is known as the black Rodney Marsh" after the Rowdies owner said that "Rodney Marsh is known as the white Pelé".
He played from 1976 to 1979 in the States, leading the Rowdies to the Soccer Bowl in his final two seasons. Both times they would come up short. Marsh was a NASL All-Star every year, making the first-team in 1976 and 1978, the second team in 1977 and as an Honorable Mention in his final season. Despite this success he suffered from depression and was drinking heavily for much of his time there. Head coach Eddie Firmani resigned from the club in 1977 after becoming frustrated with Marsh's ill-discipline; he was replaced by John Boyle (footballer born 1946), John Boyle. Marsh stopped his drinking after his doctor told him that alcohol was destroying his liver and seriously shortening his life expectancy. Marsh left the club after being forced out in 1979. He went off in another tantrum after being substituted with ten minutes to go of his competitive career by head coach
Gordon Jago. While serving as Rowdies manager for the 1986–87 American Indoor Soccer Association, AISA season, the long-retired Marsh was pressed into service once again as a player, due to a rash of injuries on the squad.
He spent the winter of the 1976–77 Football League, 1976–77 season on loan at
Fulham
Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...
, now in the
Second Division, after learning that George Best would also be playing at
Craven Cottage. The "Cottagers" were then a fashionable club where celebrities would often be in attendance and players like Marsh and Best would spend much of their free time in London nightclubs; manager
Alec Stock ensured that the partying off the pitch did not hamper progress on the pitch. Stock resigned and new boss Bobby Campbell (English footballer), Bobby Campbell took the club as high as fourth place before a run of nine defeats in 12 games saw Fulham slide down the table. The bleak wintery conditions eventually took their toll on Best and Marsh, who both returned to the US early in 1976.
International career
Marsh made his
England debut in a 1–1 draw with Switzerland national football team, Switzerland at
Wembley in November 1971, coming on as a substitute for
Francis Lee Francis Lee may refer to:
*Francis Lee (director), English actor and film director of ''God's Own Country''
*Francis Lee (footballer) (1944–2023), English professional footballer.
*Francis Lee (physician) (1661–1719), English writer known for h ...
.
He won a total of nine Cap (sport), caps, scoring one goal, which came in a 3–0 victory over Wales national football team, Wales.
It has been reported that the England manager Alf 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 half time," to which Marsh replied: "Crikey, Alf, at QPR all we get is an orange and a cup of tea."
[
]
Style of play
Often cited as a player who did not make the most of his talents, Marsh was a strong Forward (association football)#Striker, striker with great technical ability. An excellent Dribbling#Association football, dribbler of the ball, he was capable of producing moments of rare skill and extravagant attempts on goal, which earned him a reputation as a show-boater. His ability and the rarity which he played to his full potential earned him comparisons to George Best. He would regularly retaliate against players who used foul play to stop his runs, and picked up numerous fines from the FA for fighting back against his aggressors.
Coaching career
He retired after 1979, and coached New York United
The New York Greeks was an American soccer club based in New York City that was a member of the American Soccer League (1933-1983), American Soccer League.
The team began as the amateur Greek-Americans. The club played lower Premier Division of th ...
in the American Soccer League (1933-1983), ASL. He resigned three months into his contract when the general manager insisted that he sign five Uruguayan refugees to the club against his wishes. In 1981, he was appointed head coach and CEO of the newly created Carolina Lightnin', and quickly assembled a team around star midfielder Don Tobin. He coached the team to the Freedom Conference title in 1981 American Soccer League, 1981, and they went on to beat his former club New York United 2–1 in the championship final. In 1982 American Soccer League, 1982 they lost at the semi-final stage to the Oklahoma City Slickers. He then hired Bobby Moore as a coach. At the end of a disappointing 1983 American Soccer League, 1983 campaign the league folded and Marsh returned to the Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993), Tampa Bay Rowdies as head coach in October 1983. There he gave Roy Wegerle his debut as a professional player. After the 1984 North American Soccer League season, 1984 season the North American Soccer League (1968–84), North American Soccer League also disbanded. The club remained however, and later joined the National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001), National Professional Soccer League. Marsh relinquished his coaching duties and remained on as CEO, and appointed Mark Lawrenson and later Malcolm Allison
Malcolm Alexander Allison (5 September 1927 – 14 October 2010) was an English football player and manager. Nicknamed "Big Mal", he was one of English football's most flamboyant and intriguing characters because of his panache, fedora and ...
, Ricky Hill, David Hay and Ken Fogarty as head coaches.
Media career
After ending his coaching career, Marsh undertook a three-year roadshow tour with George Best. He began his career in the media with Best, presenting football related videos, before he became a regular feature on television. In 1994, he spent a brief period as CEO of Queens Park Rangers.
Marsh worked as a pundit for Sky Sports for many years. Whilst there he was involved in long-running banter with Bradford City A.F.C., Bradford City and its supporters in the 1999–2000 Bradford City A.F.C. season, 1999–2000 season, in which he flippantly dismissed their chances of survival in the Premier League. He offered to shave all of his hair off if the club stayed up, and honoured his bet and had his hair removed in the centre circle of Valley Parade.
He appeared on ''Soccer Saturday'' for a total of 11 years until he was sacked in January 2005. He was fired after he joked about the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, 2004 Asian tsunami during a live broadcast of ''You're On Sky Sports''. He had said: "David Beckham has turned down a move to Newcastle United F.C., Newcastle United because of trouble with the 'Newcastle United F.C.#Supporters and rivalries, Toon Army in Asia'." Whilst Marsh subsequently apologised on air, this was not enough to save his job. Subsequently, Marsh joined Talksport as a presenter, co-hosting the daily Drivetime show with Paul Breen-Turner. In 2006, Talksport received a number of complaints and the programme director issued an apology after Marsh made a newsreader laugh uncontrollably whilst she was reporting the death of a British soldier in Afghanistan. Marsh left the station in October 2006.
Since then Marsh attempted to rebuild his career with appearances on reality television. He appeared in the I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (UK series 7), 2007 series of ITV (TV network), ITV's ''I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'' where he was the fifth person to be voted off the show; Celebrity ''Come Dine with Me'' on Channel 4 in January 2009, in which he came in joint second place tied with Abi Titmuss; the Celebrity Coach Trip (series 1), first series of Celebrity Coach Trip on Channel 4 in November 2010, where he was partnered with Cheryl Baker; other notable appearances include ''Sing If You Can'' and ''Cash in the Attic''. He is currently cohost of Grumpy Pundits on Sirius Radio.
Personal life
He married Jean Barry in March 1967. The pair met a few years earlier at a jazz club in Manor Park, London, Manor Park.
He and his son Jonathan founded the Marsh Group, a property development company in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, in 1996. After retiring as a player Marsh continued to support QPR and Manchester City. Today he is now a co-host for a radio show called ''Grumpy Pundits'' on Sirius XM.
Honours
Club
;Queens Park Rangers
* League Cup winner: 1967
Events
January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 5
** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...
*Football League Third Division champion: 1966–67 Football League, 1966–67
*Football League Second Division runner-up: 1967–68
;Manchester City
*FA Community Shield, FA Charity Shield winner: 1972 FA Charity Shield, 1972
* League Cup runner-up: 1974
Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...
;Tampa Bay Rowdies
*North American Soccer League (1968–1984), NASL regular season premiership: 1976 North American Soccer League season#Regular season, 1976
*North American Soccer League (1968–1984), NASL Atlantic Conference Eastern Division champion: 1976 North American Soccer League season, 1976
*North American Soccer League (1968–1984), NASL Indoor champion: 1976 NASL Indoor tournament, 1976
*North American Soccer League (1968–1984), NASL American Conference champion: 1978 North American Soccer League season, 1978 & 1979 North American Soccer League season, 1979
*Soccer Bowl runner-up: Soccer Bowl '78, 1978 & Soccer Bowl '79, 1979
;Carolina Lightnin'
*American Soccer League (1933-1983), American Soccer League champion: 1981 American Soccer League, 1981
International
;England
*British Home Championship winner: 1971–72 British Home Championship, 1971–72 (shared)
Individual
;NASL All-Star Selections
*1976 North American Soccer League season#NASL All-Stars, 1976 First Team ''(Best XI)''
*1977 North American Soccer League season#NASL All-Stars, 1977 Second Team
*1978 North American Soccer League season#NASL All-Stars, 1978 First Team ''(Best XI)''
*1979 North American Soccer League season#NASL All-Stars, 1979 Honorable Mention
References
Specific
General
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marsh, Rodney
1944 births
Living people
People from Hatfield, Hertfordshire
Footballers from Hackney, London
English footballers
England under-23 international footballers
England international footballers
Fulham F.C. players
Queens Park Rangers F.C. players
Manchester City F.C. players
Cork Hibernians F.C. players
Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993) players
English Football League players
League of Ireland players
North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players
North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players
American Indoor Soccer Association players
English football managers
Expatriate soccer managers in the United States
North American Soccer League (1968–1984) coaches
United Soccer League (1984–85) coaches
American Indoor Soccer Association coaches
American Soccer League (1933–1983) coaches
English television presenters
English association football commentators
Sky Sports presenters and reporters
Tampa Bay Rowdies coaches
Tampa Bay Rowdies executives
Association football forwards
Player-coaches
English expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Expatriate soccer players in the United States
English expatriate footballers
I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (British TV series) participants