Rodney Marsh

Rodney William Marsh (born 11 October 1944) is an English former footballer and football coach; he later worked as a broadcaster.

Brought up in the East End of London, he played youth football for West Ham United before he made his professional debut with Fulham in March 1963.

Marsh began his career with First Division side Fulham, and made his debut against Aston Villa 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 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.

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 and Birmingham City.

Their opponents in the Wembley final were West Bromwich Albion, who had won the cup the previous year.

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.

Marsh moved across West London to join Queens Park Rangers, then in the Third Division, after manager Alec Stock paid out a £15,000 fee in March 1966.

He helped the club to the 1967 League Cup and to consecutive promotions through the Third Division and Second Division.

A forward, he won nine caps for England between 1971 and 1973, scoring one international goal.

In March 1972 he was sold to Manchester City for £200,000.

He featured in the 1974 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 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.

Marsh was born in Hatfield, Hertfordshire to Lilian Dredge, a housewife, and William Marsh, a docker.

He grew up in Palatine Road, Stoke Newington, 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 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.