Simon Marsh

Simon Thomas Peter Marsh (born 29 January 1977) is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League for Oxford United, Birmingham City and Brentford.[3]

For other people named Simon Marsh, see Simon Marsh (disambiguation).

Simon Marsh
Personal information
Full name Simon Thomas Peter Marsh[1]
Date of birth (1977-01-29) 29 January 1977[1]
Place of birth Ealing,[1] England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[2]
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
1993–1994 Oxford United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994–1998 Oxford United 56 (3)
1998–2001 Birmingham City 7 (0)
2000 → Brentford (loan) 4 (0)
2002–2003 Tamworth
National team
1998 England U21 1 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Marsh was born in Ealing, London. Primarily a left back, he joined Oxford United as a YTS trainee when he left school in 1993.[4] He made his debut in the Football League Second Division, the third tier of English football, on 17 September 1994 in a 1–1 draw at Brighton & Hove Albion.[5] 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.[4]

In May 1998 he received his first call-up to the England under-21 team as part of the squad for the Toulon Tournament;[6] he started England's first group game, a 1–1 draw against France under-21, but took no part in the remainder of the competition.[7] Though that was his only cap for the full under-21 side, he played for a representative Football League under-21 team which drew 1–1 with their Italian Serie B counterparts in November 1998.[8]

The next month, with Oxford in severe financial difficulties, Marsh joined First Division (second tier) club Birmingham City for a fee of £250,000, with additional amounts payable dependent on appearances and Birmingham's future promotion.[9] He had made 68 appearances for Oxford in all competitions.[4] 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.[10][3] 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.[11] At the end of the 1999–2000 season, with no improvement in sight, he was told he should look for another club.[12]

In September 2000 Marsh joined Brentford on loan.[3] Despite his giving away a penalty on his debut,[13] Brentford were interested on making the move permanent if a fee could be agreed.[14] 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.[15]

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.[16] By the start of the 2002–03 season, his fitness had improved sufficiently for Tamworth to sign him.[17] Minor injuries continued to disrupt Marsh's career, and a loan move to Moor Green was suggested, but this did not happen because Tamworth were short of fit players.[18] In February 2003, Marsh had to finish playing on medical advice after sustaining a serious back injury;[19] his club went on to win the Southern League title and reach the final of the FA Trophy.[20]

References
  1. "Simon Marsh". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  2. Rollin, Glenda, ed. (1999). Playfair Football Annual 1999–2000. Headline. p. 24. ISBN 978-0-7472-5975-6.
  3. "Games played by Simon Marsh in 1998/1999". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  4. "Alumni". Oxford United F.C. 22 June 2007. Archived from the original on 4 October 2011.
  5. "Simon Marsh". Rage Online. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  6. "Marsh makes final squad". Oxford Mail. 13 May 1998. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  7. Rollin, Glenda, ed. (1998). Playfair Football Annual 1998–99 (51st ed.). Headline. p. 253. ISBN 978-0-7472-5917-6.
  8. "Football: Evers keeps Nationwide flag flying". The Independent. London. 26 November 1998. Retrieved 15 April 2009.
  9. Harris, Nick (11 December 1998). "Football: Bruce is a no-go area, United told". The Independent. London. Retrieved 15 April 2009.
  10. Burton, Mark (13 December 1998). "Football: Oxford's record defeat". The Independent. London. Retrieved 15 April 2009.
  11. Milledge, Adrian (17 December 1999). "Injury casts shadow on Marsh future". Birmingham Post. p. 30. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  12. Halford, Brian (23 May 2000). "Blues axe falls on strikers". Birmingham Post. p. 28. Retrieved 24 September 2013 – via Questia Online Library.
  13. Sayer, Bob (3 September 2000). "Black spot for Brown". News of the World. London. p. 73. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  14. "Earle 'drained' but on the way back for Wimbledon". Evening Standard. London. 8 September 2000. Retrieved 24 September 2009.
  15. Tattum, Colin (11 April 2001). "Trev vows: We'll battle back". Birmingham Evening Mail. Retrieved 24 September 2013 – via Questia Online Library.
  16. "Non-League Football: Tamworth rule out deal for Blues old boy Marsh". Birmingham Post. 2 March 2002. Retrieved 24 September 2013 – via Questia Online Library.
  17. "Football: Lambs boss Gee lures Marsh back to game". Birmingham Post. 30 August 2002. Retrieved 24 September 2013.
  18. "Football: Tamworth ready to let Marsh become a Moor in fitness bid". Birmingham Post. 16 November 2002. Retrieved 24 September 2013 – via Questia Online Library.
  19. Pullen, Nick (5 February 2003). "Football: Marsh forced to finish playing". Birmingham Evening Mail. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2013 – via HighBeam Research.
  20. "Tamworth". Football Club History Database. Richard Rundle. Retrieved 15 April 2009.
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