David Rocastle
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | David Carlyle Rocastle[1] | ||
Date of birth | [1] | 2 May 1967||
Place of birth | Lewisham, London, England[1] | ||
Date of death | 31 March 2001[1] | (aged 33)||
Place of death | Slough, Berkshire, England[1] | ||
Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[2] | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Youth career | |||
1982–1985 | Arsenal | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1985–1992 | Arsenal | 218 | (24) |
1992–1993 | Leeds United | 25 | (2) |
1993–1994 | Manchester City | 21 | (2) |
1994–1998 | Chelsea | 29 | (0) |
1997 | → Norwich City (loan) | 11 | (0) |
1997 | → Hull City (loan) | 11 | (1) |
1998–1999 | Sabah | 13 | (8) |
Total | 328 | (37) | |
International career | |||
1986–1988 | England U21 | 14 | (2) |
1988–1992 |
England B | 2 | (0) |
1988–1992 | England | 14 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
David Carlyle Rocastle (2 May 1967 – 31 March 2001) was an English professional footballer who played as a midfielder in the roles of a playmaker and a winger.[3]
He spent the majority of his career at
Club career
Rocastle was born in Lewisham on 2 May 1967 to Caribbean immigrants Leslie and Linda Rocastle, who moved to London during the 1950s.[6] His father died aged 29 in 1972 from pneumonia[7] when Rocastle was five years old, and his mother Linda subsequently remarried and had two more children. Rocastle attended the Turnham Primary School and the Roger Manwood secondary school in his teenage years.[8]
Arsenal
After being rejected by
He made his debut against
In January 1987, Arsenal were away to
Rocastle, still only 19, went on to score the winning goal in the
Rocastle's first league championship with Arsenal came in
In
The following season, he played 39 league games for the Gunners, and a renaissance for Rocastle playing in a modified role in central midfield. The new signing Ian Wright and Rocastle were childhood friends who went on to represent the Gunners together in the 1991–92 campaign. His last appearance in an Arsenal shirt was against Southampton 2 May 1992 in a 5–1 win. He scored four league goals in his last season. The most memorable, on 19 October 1991, was a lob from 25 yards over Peter Schmeichel at Old Trafford in a 1–1 draw. His last goal for Arsenal, again against Manchester United at Highbury 1 February 1992 in a 1–1 draw, came from a cross from Wright.[20] Rocastle was also tasting European football for the first time as Arsenal reached the second round of the European Cup.[23]
In seven seasons for Arsenal, Rocastle played 277 first team games and scored 34 goals, collecting two league title medals and a winner's medal in the League Cup, and playing the 1989 FA Charity Shield and 1991 FA Charity Shield at Wembley.[24]
On 23 July 1992, Rocastle's spell at Arsenal came to an end when he was sold to reigning league champions
Leeds United
Rocastle's arrival at Leeds United made him, up to that point, the club's' most expensive signing at up to £2 million. Manager Howard Wilkinson saw Rocastle as an eventual replacement for the veteran midfielder Gordon Strachan. However, Strachan would go on to spend nearly three more years at Elland Road and remained a regular first team player for two more seasons, by which time Rocastle had left the West Yorkshire club. He went on to play a total of 34 games for Leeds, only half of them in the starting line-up.[28]
He made his debut for the club in a
Manchester City
Late in December 1993, he moved to Maine Road as replacement for David White, who in turn had joined Leeds earlier that month. Rocastle moved to City in a straight swap valued at £2 million and he made his debut against Southampton in a 1–1 draw 28 December 1993.[37][38]
He was an instant hit with the fans and his class shone through immediately in a side that included a number of budget signings. Even though he was only 26, he had suffered numerous injuries in recent seasons and they were beginning to take their toll. But Rocastle still had what it took to thrill the City fans and, against Ipswich Town 5 February 1994, he produced one moment of Brazilian skill that set up a goal for Carl Griffiths and all but lifted the roof off Maine Road. It was a dummy, feign and drag back that saw him spin away from three defenders before his low cross was turned in by Griffiths at the near post to make it 1–1.[39][40]
In Manchester City Rocastle scored two goals as City finished 16th in the Premier League – their lowest finish since winning promotion to the top flight in 1989. Rocastle scored the winning goal against Swindon Town 26 February 1994, and his second 5 March against Queens Park Rangers in a 1–1 draw at Loftus Road.[41][42]
Though his career hadn’t flourished since leaving his beloved Gunners, Rocastle's time with the Blues proved that, on his day, he was still one of the best English midfielders of his generation. He only played 23 games for City and it’s amazing he made the impact he did given that he was only with the club for eight months, but he had and there was a great deal of disappointment when he was allowed to join Chelsea a few weeks before the 1994/95 season.[43][44]
Chelsea
By the time Rocastle arrived at Chelsea from Man City in August 1994 for £1.25 million, his knee problem was common knowledge in the game. However, Chelsea manager Glenn Hoddle took the view that sixty minutes of Rocastle was worth ninety minutes of many other players. Hence he started regularly, but was substituted in two-thirds of the thirty-nine games he played that first season. His debut came 20 August 1994 at Stamford Bridge against Norwich City in a 2–0 win.[45] Rocastle would go on to play 40 times for Chelsea and scored two goals in his time there.[46][47][48][49] One of these came in a League Cup win over AFC Bournemouth, with the other being netted in a 1995 European Cup Winners Cup's first-round game against FK Viktoria Žižkov. His performance in midfield on a memorable night 14 March 1995, when a 1–0 deficit against Club Brugge KV was overturned to send Chelsea through to the final-four, was probably his finest hour for them, even though he was inevitably substituted with thirty minutes to go. His experience proved invaluable throughout a European Cup-Winners Cup run which ended at the Semi-Final stage, going out to eventual winners Real Zaragoza by a single goal on aggregate.
Injury problems returned to haunt Rocastle in
Rocastle was loaned out to Norwich City in Division One, and made his Norwich debut against Grimsby Town on 18 January 1997. Rocastle impressed the Norwich fans with his intelligent passing and commitment and Mike Walker extended his loan spell for a second month. However Norwich were unable to meet his wage demands and Rocastle returned to Chelsea after 11 games in yellow and green. Rocastle also had trials with clubs including Aberdeen and Southampton shortly afterwards.[55]
In October 1997, Rocastle was loaned out to Hull City in Division Three, and scored on his debut for the Tigers against Scarborough.[56] Rocastle’s final appearance for Hull City, a 2–1 defeat at home to Chester on Boxing Day 1997, also proved to be his last in English football.[57]
Sabah FA
Rocastle eventually left Chelsea in 1998 to join up with
International career
After making two appearances for the England 'B' side, Rocastle was capped 14 times at under-21 level for England during the second half of the 1980s, scoring twice. Whilst playing for the Young Lions, he earned a runners-up medal in the 1988
Aged 21, he was capped at senior level for the first time against
Illness and death
In February 2001, Rocastle announced that he was suffering from
Six weeks after Rocastle's death, his nine-year-old son Ryan was Arsenal's mascot for their
Five years and a day after his death, 1 April 2006 was designated "David Rocastle Day", as part of the celebrations of Arsenal's final season at Highbury. Upon the day a league game was played which saw a brace from Thierry Henry in an eventual 5–0 win for Arsenal over Aston Villa.[63] Fans paid tribute to Rocastle before the start of the match with a minute's applause.[64]
In August 2006, Arsenal opened the David Rocastle indoor centre at the
Personal life
Rocastle had three children with his wife Janet – son Ryan and daughters Melissa and Monique.[67][68]
He is the cousin of another professional footballer, Craig Rocastle, and his brother Stephen played for Norwich City and was on the books of Derry City as well.
The David Rocastle Trust
The David Rocastle Trust is a charity based in London, UK founded in memory of Rocastle. The charity, which was chosen by Arsenal as their club charity for the 2005–06 season, supports Rocastle's family as well as community projects and other registered charities.[69] The charity shut down in 2010.[70]
Career statistics
Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Arsenal | 1985–86 | First Division | 16 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 2 |
1986–87 | 36 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 5 | ||
1987–88 | 40 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 12 | ||
1988–89 | 38 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 7 | ||
1989–90 | 33 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 2 | ||
1990–91 | 16 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 2 | ||
1991–92 | 39 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 47 | 4 | ||
Total | 218 | 24 | 20 | 4 | 33 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 275 | 34 | ||
Leeds United | 1992–93 | Premier League | 18 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 26 | 1 |
1993–94 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 | ||
Total | 25 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 34 | 2 | ||
Manchester City | 1993–94 | Premier League | 21 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 2 |
Chelsea | 1994–95 | Premier League | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 39 | 2 |
1995–96 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
Total | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 40 | 2 | ||
Norwich City | 1996–97 | First Division | 11 | 0 | ||||||||
Hull City | 1997–98 | Third Division | 11 | 1 | ||||||||
Sabah | 1998 | Liga Perdana 1 | 13 | 8 | ||||||||
1999 | 5 | 1 | 6 | |||||||||
Total | ||||||||||||
Career total |
Honours
- First Division: 1988–89, 1990–91
- 1986–87
- 1991 (shared)[18]
- Football League Centenary Trophy: 1988[75]
- Zenith Data Systems Challenge Trophy: 1989[76]
Leeds United[74]
- FA Charity Shield: 1992
- Makita Tournament: runner-up 1992[77]
Sabah
- Piala FA: runner-up 1998[8]
England youth
- Toulon Tournament: runner-up 1988[58]
Individual
- PFA Team of the Year: 1986–87 First Division,[78] 1988–89 First Division[79]
- Arsenal Player of the Season: 1985–86[79]
- Barclays Young Eagle: 1987[17] & 1989[21]
References
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- ISBN 978-0-356-14354-5.
- ^ "Greatest 50 Players-16. David Rocastle". Arsenal.com. Archived from the original on 5 January 2017.
- ^ "arsenal.com/historic/players/david-rocastle". 1 March 2022.
- ^ a b c "Rocky remembered in Borneo". Al Jazeera.com.
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- ^ "'Oh Rocky Rocky,' a tribute to Arsenal icon David Rocastle". Hampstead Highgate Express. 31 March 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
- ^ a b c d e Leighton, James (19 May 2016). Rocky: The Tears and Triumphs of David Rocastle. Simon and Schuster.
- ^ a b James, Josh. "Rocky Seven". Retrieved 1 April 2013.
- ^ "Rocky". WSC.co.uk.
- ^ "Cult Heroes and Club Icons: The Legend of David Rocastle". theScore.com. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
- ^ "David Rocastle: Bio". Sporting Heroes.net.
- ^ "Arsenal". 1 March 2022.
- ^ "The Joy of Six: Manchester Utd v Arsenal showdowns". The Guardian.com. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017.
- ^ Kempson, Russell. "The sparks fly". The Times.co.uk.
- ^ "1986/87 League Cup". Arsenal.com. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
- ^ a b "David Rocastle: Barclays Young Eagle Award". Getty Images.com.
- ^ a b "Arsenal's League Cup Finals – A history". Arsenal F.C. 26 January 2011. Archived from the original on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
- ^ "Mercantile Credit Centenary Trophy 1988". Football Database.eu.
- ^ a b "five-of-david-rocky-rocastles-most-memorable-moments-at-arsenal". 1 March 2022.
- ^ a b "David Rocastle: Barclays Young Eagle 1989". Twitter.com.
- ^ a b Leighton, James (2016). Rocky: The Tears and Triumphs of David Rocastle. Simon & Schuster UK.
- ^ Arsenal Official Handbook 1991–92
- ^ James, Josh; Kelly, Andy; Andrews, Mark (2018). Arsenal: The Complete Record 1886–2018. deCoubertin Books.
- ^ "Football: Rocastle's move to Leeds leaves room for Thomas". The Independent.co.uk. 22 October 2011.
- ^ "Anders Limpar and an insight into the sale of David Rocastle". Woolwich Arsenal.co.uk. 21 July 2012.
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- ^ David Clayton, MCFC, 31 March 2020
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- ^ a b "Rocastle off to Chelsea for 1.25m pounds". Independent.co.uk. 23 October 2011.
- ^ "David Rocastle: Stats". 11v11.com.
- ^ a b "A brief history of the Arsenal-Chelsea rivalry and why it matters". The Guardian.co.tt. 22 April 2015.
- ^ a b "Why David Rocastle means so much to Arsenal fans". Four Four Two.com. 31 March 2020.
- ^ "premierleague.com/match/1488". 1 August 2021.
- ^ "David ROCASTLE – Football career at Chelsea". Chelsea FC. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
- ^ "UEFA Cup Winners Cup 1994–95 Semi-Final". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 30 April 2004.
- ^ "UEFA Cup Winners Cup 1994–95 First Round". UEFA.com. Archived from the original on 26 June 2004.
- ^ "David Rocastle". Sporting Heroes.net.
- ^ "ex-canaries.co.uk/players/rocastle". 1 August 2021.
- ^ "Rocastle is instant hit". thefreelibrary.com. 13 October 1997. Retrieved 25 June 2014.
- ^ "arsenal-david-rocastle-hull-anniversary-". 1 August 2021.
- ^ a b "Toulon trip brings fond memories for coach Colin Cooper". The FA.com.
- ^ "U21 EURO 1988 » Semi-finals » England – France 2:2". World Football.net.
- ^ Arsenal Official Handbook 1991–92.
- ^ "englandstats". 1 March 2022.
- ^ "Time to remember the remarkable David Rocastle | Daniel Taylor". The Guardian. 29 April 2017. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
- ^ "Arsenal 5–0 Aston Villa". Arsenal.com.
- ^ a b c "Cult Heroes and Club Icons: The Legend of Rocastle". The Score.com.
- ^ "Arsenal name youth facility after David Rocastle". Arsenal.com.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Arsenal legend Ian Wright praises Hull over David Rocastle tribute sign at KC Stadium – Arsenal". Sport.Net. Retrieved 26 September 2020.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Tribute to David Rocastle". Five Eyes.tv. Archived from the original on 2 April 2017. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
- ISBN 9781471153334. Retrieved 26 September 2020 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Arsenal select David Rocastle Trust as charity". Arsenal.com. Archived from the original on 11 March 2014.
- ^ "THE DAVID ROCASTLE TRUST :: OpenCharities".
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- ^ "Info Bola Sabah: Top Goalscorers by season". 29 October 2020.
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- ^ "Mercantile Credit Centenary Trophy 1988". Football Database. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
- ^ Perry Groves and John Mc Shane, 2006. We all live in a Perry Groves world, John Blake Publishing Ltd, London.
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- ^ Lynch. The Official P.F.A Footballers Heroes. p. 143.
- ^ a b "15 EXCELLENT PHOTOS OF DAVID 'ROCKY' ROCASTLE IN HIS ARSENAL PRIME". Who Ate All The Pies.tv.
External links
- Part 1
- Part 2 of David Rocastle's profile on Arsenal-Land.co.uk
- A memorial by the BBC
- Rocky 7 Day (2008) at the Wayback Machine (archived 14 March 2008)
- David Rocastle at Soccerbase
- Bio at Ex Canaries.co.uk