David Rocastle

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David Rocastle
Personnel
Surname David Carlyle Rocastle
birthday May 2, 1967
place of birth Lewisham , LondonEngland
date of death March 31, 2001
Place of death SloughEngland
position midfield
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1984-1992 Arsenal FC 218 (24)
1992-1993 Leeds United 25 0(2)
1993-1994 Manchester City 21 0(2)
1994-1998 Chelsea FC 29 0(0)
1997 →  Norwich City  (loan) 11 0(0)
1997 →  Hull City  (loan) 10 0(1)
1998-1999 Sabah FA
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
1986-1988 England U-21 14 0(2)
1991-1992 England B 2 0(0)
1988-1992 England 14 0(0)
1 Only league games are given.

David Carlyle "Rocky" Rocastle (born May 2, 1967 in Lewisham , London , † March 31, 2001 in Slough ) was an English football player and two-time English champion with Arsenal FC . He was also used between 1988 and 1992 in 14 international matches for the English national team.

Arsenal FC career

After Rocastle left school in the summer of 1983, he joined the youth department of Arsenal and played for two years in the local youth teams before signing a professional contract before the start of the 1985/86 season. He made his debut against Newcastle United and quickly became a regular in the first team. Even before his 20th birthday, he won his first title with the League Cup in 1987 after defeating Liverpool FC with his team at Wembley Stadium in the final. In the following year he was in the same competition in the final, in which Arsenal, however, lost a 2-1 lead and lost 3-2 after a goal against Luton Town in the last minute .

The midfielder won two English championships with Arsenal and was on the field in almost every game when he won his first title in 1989. Arsenal's success was ensured on the last day of the match with a 2-0 win and a goal in the final minutes at Anfield against Liverpool, giving Arsenal a better goal difference against the hosts from Liverpool when they were tied. Because of the tragedy in the Heysel stadium in 1985 and the resulting by 1990 resulting barrier for English clubs, based on European club competitions, Rocastle allowed with Arsenal not on but in the subsequent years European Cup champions take part. In the 1989/90 season Rocastle finished with Arsenal in fourth place and again missed the return to European football, as only the runner -up was granted a participation in the UEFA Cup .

Due to a knee injury, Rocastle only made 18 league appearances for Arsenal in the 1990/91 season, but was able to retract the second title in a season when Arsenal only lost a single game in the championship. In the following season he was again a regular player and missed only three of 42 championship games.

During his time at Arsenal, Rocastle made fourteen international matches for the English national team, not losing a single game and a successful international career was predicted. Nevertheless, his 14th international match in 1992 should be his last appearance for England.

Developments after Arsenal FC

At the end of the 1991/92 season Rocastle was sold for two million pounds to the new champions Leeds United , where he should replace the veteran Gordon Strachan in the medium term according to the plans of coach Howard Wilkinson . When Leeds started in the newly created Premier League , it turned out, however, that Strachan should act as a regular at Elland Road for three more seasons . The additional competition from other players and injuries then ensured that Rocastle could not play in the team. This was followed in December 1993 by the resale for also two million pounds to Manchester City , where he was supposed to represent David White , who in turn had already moved to Leeds earlier in the same month.

But the stay on Maine Road was not marked by success either. At the end of the season, City coach Brian Horton signed winger Nicky Summerbee - son of Mike Summerbee , who was formerly active in Manchester - and thus worsened Rocastle's prospects. Before the start of the 1994/95 season he was also sold to Chelsea for £ 1.25 million .

In his first season for Chelsea, he played again regularly and was used in almost 40 games. He scored two goals in the course of the European Cup Winners' Cup when Chelsea managed to reach the semi-finals and were narrowly defeated there against eventual titleholders Real Zaragoza . The injuries returned the following year, however, and he only played once again - in October 1995 against Blackburn Rovers - for Chelsea, although he was still under contract until the summer of 1998. Rocastle was loaned in the 1996/97 season to Norwich City and in the subsequent season to Hull City and also did not get beyond missions in the reserve team of Chelsea.

After the end of his contract in Chelsea, he moved to Malaysia for free to the "Sabah Rhinos", where he ended his career a short time later due to persistent injury problems.

illness

In February 2001, Rocastle announced that he was suffering from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma , a particularly aggressive form of cancer that attacks the immune system . He was undergoing chemotherapy and was very optimistic about his chances of recovery. However, he died on March 31, 2001 at the age of only 33 and was buried six days later. Many famous football players from the past and present attended the funeral.

He left behind his wife Janet, son Ryan and two daughters Melissa and Monique. Six weeks after his death, Ryan Rocastle was able to attend Arsenal's FA Cup final - which the club lost 2-1 to Liverpool after a 1-0 lead with two goals from Michael Owen - as a lucky charm .

Five years and one day after his death, a special "David Rocastle Day" was held on the occasion of the last season at Highbury - as part of a themed series. Before the game, in which Arsenal beat Aston Villa 5-0, the crowd paid tribute to Rocastle with a minute of applause.

successes

  • English champion: 1989, 1991
  • English league cup winner: 1987
  • Charity Shield winner: 1991 * (* title shared)

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