Paul Mariner

Paul Mariner (22 May 1953 – 9 July 2021) was an English football player and coach.

A centre forward during his playing days, Mariner began his career with Chorley.

He became a professional player in 1973 with Plymouth Argyle, where he scored 61 goals in 155 appearances and is considered to have been one of the club's best ever players.

Mariner started his career as an amateur player at non-league club Chorley, close to his Lancashire roots and his style at the helm of their attack caught the attention of Plymouth Argyle, for whom he signed in 1973.

So began an impressive scoring record with the Devon club, with 56 goals in 135 appearances coming before Bobby Robson, who had been personally monitoring Mariner's progress, took him to Ipswich Town for a club record £220,000 with John Peddelty and Terry Austin moving in the opposite direction as part of the deal.

Mariner chose Ipswich ahead of similar offers from West Bromwich Albion and West Ham United.

He joined Ipswich Town in 1976, where he achieved domestic and European success under the guidance of Bobby Robson.

Mariner made his debut in September 1976 and quickly settled into the Ipswich side as an old-fashioned number 9 – i.e., a forward capable of taking hard tackles and rough treatment from defenders but willing to give it back, while also scoring a fair share of goals.

Received wisdom suggests that Mariner was only a 'target-man'-type centre forward but he scored plenty of goals with his feet and had the skill to create his own chances on the deck, rather than relying entirely on service through the centre and via the flanks.

Such was Mariner's impact that six months after joining Ipswich, he made his England debut as a substitute in a 5–0 win over Luxembourg at Wembley and played from the beginning in the following game against Northern Ireland in the British Home Championship at Windsor Park, Belfast.

He impressed in both games, though did not score and was not selected for the next six matches.

During this period, Ipswich finished third in the First Division, with Mariner contributing ten goals from 28 games.

Mariner's third England cap came in the return World Cup qualifier in Luxembourg, scoring a last-minute goal in a 2–0 win.

By now, Mariner had become one of a number of 'target man'-type centre forwards for England coach Ron Greenwood to select from, with Stuart Pearson and Bob Latchford also on the scene.

It was Mariner, however, who would be selected the majority of the time.

At club level, Mariner was having a mixed time.

Greenwood did not select Mariner for England throughout 1979, although Mariner had his most productive spell for Ipswich that season, scoring 13 goals in 33 matches.

He was called up to play for the England national team during his time at Portman Road, and went on to represent his country at the 1980 European Championships and the 1982 World Cup.

In total, Mariner played 35 times for England, scoring 13 goals.

He spent two years with Arsenal and then Portsmouth before finishing his career abroad.

He played for clubs in Australia, the US, and Malta.

He took up coaching during his time with Albany Capitals and focused on it fully when he retired from playing.

After spending time working in Japan, he returned to America to coach, firstly in Arizona and then at Harvard University.

It was not until 1980 that he won a sixth England cap – almost exactly two years after his fifth – and he scored England's goal in a surprising 4–1 defeat against Wales at Wrexham.

He stayed in the reckoning thereafter, scoring in a 2–1 win over Australia in Sydney in the final game before England took to the field for the 1980 European Championships.

Mariner was named in Greenwood's squad for the tournament, despite not playing during the whole qualifying campaign.

He did not play in the opening 1–1 draw versus Belgium in Turin but came on as a substitute in the remaining two group matches – a defeat against Italy and a victory over Spain, which ensured England's elimination from the competition.

Mariner maintained his England place as his Ipswich goalscoring record continued to improve – 17 from 41 games had come in 1980 and Ipswich made the early running as the next season got underway.

England began their qualifying campaign for the 1982 World Cup with a conclusive 4–0 win over Norway, with Mariner scoring a superb goal with a deft turn and shot from 25 yards.

He was, however, left out of the next game, which turned into a gruesome 2–1 defeat against Romania in Bucharest.

Greenwood put him back in the side a month later for a now vital match against Switzerland, and Mariner scored the opener in a 2–1 win.

He joined Major League Soccer club New England Revolution in 2004 as a member of Steve Nicol's coaching staff.

After five years in Massachusetts, Mariner returned to Plymouth Argyle in 2009 as their head coach.

He succeeded Paul Sturrock as the club's manager two months later before returning to his role as head coach upon the arrival of Peter Reid.

In January 2011, he returned to Major League Soccer as director of player development at Toronto FC.

Mariner was the color commentator for New England Revolution of MLS.

He scored 11 goals for Ipswich, but the team underperformed in the First Division and finished 18th.

However, they reached the FA Cup final at Wembley where they memorably beat Arsenal 1–0.

Mariner hit the goal-frame with one chance.

Starting in 2020, he commentated for some of the Revolution games, and shared the duty with Charlie Davies.