Simon Thomas Peter Marsh (born 29 January 1977) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played 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 ...

for

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

and

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

Playing career

Marsh was born in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

, London. Primarily a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

, he joined

as a YTS trainee when he left school in 1993. He made his debut in the

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

, the third tier of English football, on 17 September 1994 in a 1–1 draw at

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

. This was the first of 13 first-team appearances in 1994–95, his second season as a trainee, and he signed professional forms at the end of that season. In May 1998 he received his first call-up to the England under-21 team as part of the squad for the

Toulon Tournament The Maurice Revello Tournament (officially French: the ''Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello''), previously known as the Toulon Tournament, is a Association football, football tournament, which traditionally features invit ...

; he started England's first group game, a 1–1 draw with France under-21, but took no part in the remainder of the competition. Though that was his only

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

for the full under-21 side, he played for a representative

under-21 team which drew 1–1 with their Italian

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

counterparts in November 1998. The next month, with Oxford in severe financial difficulties, Marsh joined

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

(second-tier) club

for a fee of £250,000, with additional amounts payable dependent on appearances and Birmingham's future

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

. He had made 68 appearances for Oxford in all competitions. He made his debut against his former club, as a second-half substitute with Birmingham already 5–0 up on their way to inflicting Oxford's record home defeat, 7–1. After less than two months with Birmingham, Marsh developed back trouble. He underwent a variety of treatments, including surgery, but ten months later was still unable to play. At the end of the 1999–2000 season, with no improvement in sight, he was told he should look for another club. In September 2000 Marsh joined

on loan. Despite his giving away a

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

on his debut, Brentford were interested on making the move permanent if a fee could be agreed. No agreement was reached, and Marsh returned to Birmingham at the end of the month. He never played for the first team again, though appeared regularly for the reserves. In April 2001, with two years remaining on his contract, player and club agreed a

severance package A severance package is pay and benefits that employees may be entitled to receive when they leave employment at a company unwilfully. In addition to their remaining regular pay, it may include some of the following: * Any additional payment based ...

. In 2002 Marsh trained with Southern League team Tamworth in an attempt to regain fitness. He played half a reserve game for the club on a trial basis, but was shown to be still far from match-fit. By the start of the 2002–03 season, his fitness had improved sufficiently for Tamworth to sign him. Minor injuries continued to disrupt Marsh's career, and a loan move to

Moor Green Moor Green is a historic home located near Brentsville, Prince William County, Virginia. It dates to the early-19th century, and is a two-story, five-bay, Federal style brick residence, with a one-room, two-story ell. It has a standing seam m ...

was suggested, but this did not happen because Tamworth were short of fit players. In February 2003, Marsh had to finish playing on medical advice after sustaining a serious back injury; his club went on to win the Southern League title and reach the final of the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, also known as the Isuzu FA Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after The Football Association (the FA) and competed by mainly National League ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marsh, Simon 1977 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Ealing People from Ealing English men's footballers England men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football defenders Oxford United F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Tamworth F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players