David Rocastle

David Rocastle

Personal information
Full name	David Carlyle Rocastle
Date of birth	2 May 1967(1967-05-02)
Place of birth	Lewisham, London, England
Date of death	31 March 2001(2001-03-31) (aged 33)
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth career
1983–1985	Arsenal
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1984–1992	Arsenal	228	(23)
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)
1999	Sabah	13	(8)
National team
	England U21	14	(2)
1988–1992	England	14	(0)
–	England B	2	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

David Carlyle Rocastle, nicknamed Rocky, (2 May 1967 – 31 March 2001) was an English football player, who spent the majority of his career at Arsenal. He was the cousin of another professional footballer, Craig Rocastle, and his brother Stephen was on the books of Norwich City.

Career at Arsenal

Rocastle was born at Lewisham on 2 May 1967 to Caribbean immigrant parents who came to England during the 1950s.^{[citation needed]} His father died in 1972, when Rocastle was five years old. His mother Linda remarried^{[citation needed]}

On leaving school in the summer of 1983 he joined Arsenal as an apprentice and spent two years in the youth team before signing a professional contract just before the start of the 1985–86 season. In his early career he faced problems with his eyesight, and contact lenses had to be used. According to his team mate Martin Keown "They couldn't work out why Rocastle was running around dribbling with his head down. So they took him to the halfway line and said: 'Can you see the goal?' and he couldn't. His eyesight was terrible. They sorted him out with contact lenses and his career took off."^[1]

He made his debut against Newcastle United and made 26 league appearances that season, scoring once as Arsenal finished seventh in the league. He remained a regular player in the first team following the departure of Don Howe and the appointment of George Graham as manager at the end of the 1985–86 season. [4]

In 1987, just before his 20th birthday, he won a League Cup winners medal after Arsenal beat Liverpool in the final at Wembley. He was a member of the Arsenal side which reached the final against Luton Town the following year but Arsenal surrendered a 2–1 lead with only seven minutes of the final left to play, and ended up losing 3–2 to a last minute Luton goal. He was ever present in the league in 1987–88.

Rocastle won two league championship medals with Arsenal. The first came in 1989, when he played in every game. Arsenal's success was sealed when they beat Liverpool 2–0 in the final game of the season at Anfield, snatching the title from the hosts on goals scored. But Arsenal were unable to compete in the 1989–90 European Champions Cup because the ban on English clubs in European competition after the 1985 Heysel tragedy still had one year to run. Arsenal finished fourth in the 1989–90 league season and missed out on a return to Europe because only the runners-up were entitled to a UEFA Cup place.

In 1990–91, a knee injury restricted Rocastle to just 18 league appearances for Arsenal but he still played his part in Arsenal winning the league championship – losing only one league game all season. The following season he only missed three out of 42 league games, scoring four goals.

During his time with Arsenal, Rocastle was capped 14 times for England, but did not make the squad for either 1990 World Cup or Euro 92, with Rangers' Trevor Steven preferred instead. In 1992 he played his 14th and last game for England, and was not selected in the squad for Euro 92.^[2]

Career after Arsenal

On 23 July 1992, after nearly a decade at Arsenal^[3], Rocastle was sold to league champions Leeds United in a £2million deal, making him their most expensive signing. Manager Howard Wilkinson saw Rocastle as an eventual replacement for the veteran Gordon Strachan as Leeds entered the first-ever Premier League, but in fact Strachan still had three more seasons left as a regular player at Elland Road. Rocastle, meanwhile, was kept out of the side by both injury and competition from other players. He was at the club until December 1993, when he was transferred to Manchester City for £2million as replacement for David White, who in turn had joined Leeds earlier that month.

But the move to Maine Road was not a success for Rocastle, who managed two goals from 21 Premier League games as City finished 16th – their lowest finish since winning promotion to the top flight in 1989. At the end of the season, manager Brian Horton snapped up the Swindon winger Nicky Summerbee (son of former City player Mike) and Rocastle's days at the club looked numbered. So, just before the start of the 1994–95 season, he was transferred to Chelsea in a £1.25million deal.

In 1994–95, Rocastle played in nearly 40 games for Chelsea and scored two goals in the European Cup Winners Cup, in which Chelsea reached the semi finals and lost to eventual winners Zaragoza by a single goal. The following season his injuries returned and he played just one more game for the club, in October 1995 against Blackburn, although he remained on the club's pay roll until his contract expired in the summer of 1998. In 1996–97, after a summer trial at Hertha BSC Berlin and similar spells at Aberdeen and Southampton, Rocastle was loaned out to Norwich City and in 1997–98 had a brief spell on loan to Hull City in Division Three, but nothing came of either spell and both times he ended up back in the Stamford Bridge reserve team.

On completing his contract with Chelsea in 1998, Rocastle joined the Malaysian team Sabah on a free transfer but was unable to stay clear of injury and retired in December 1999.

International career

Rocastle was capped 14 times for England at under-21 level during the 1980s, scoring twice. At the age of 21, he was capped at senior level for the first time against Denmark on 14 September 1988. His final appearance came on 17 May 1992, just after his 25th birthday, against Brazil. He had been capped 14 times for England at senior level and failed to score,^[4]but was never on the losing side as England won seven of the international games he appeared in and drew the other seven.

He also made two goalless appearances for the England 'B' side.

Illness and death

In February 2001, Rocastle announced that he was suffering from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, an aggressive form of cancer which attacks the immune system. He underwent a course of chemotherapy and was hopeful of a recovery. He died in the early hours of 31 March 2001, aged 33.

Rocastle was survived by his wife Janet, son Ryan and daughters Melissa and Monique. Six weeks after Rocastle's death, his son Ryan was Arsenal's mascot in their FA Cup final match against Liverpool in which they took the lead but ended up losing 2–1 because of two last gasp goals by Michael Owen.

Five years and a day after his death, 1 April 2006 was designated "David Rocastle Day", as part of the themed matchday celebrations of Arsenal's final season at their stadium Highbury, a 5–0 win over Aston Villa. Fans paid tribute to Rocastle before the match with a minute's applause. Arsenal have also opened up a new youth team indoor training facility named after him, as a tribute to his contributions to the club. Rocastle is also one of 32 Arsenal legends honored by having their images painted on the side of the new Emirates stadium.

Honours

With Arsenal:

Winner:

• First Division: 1988–89, 1990–91
• Football League Cup: 1986–87
• FA Charity Shield: 1991 (shared)

Runner-up:

• Football League Cup: 1987–88
• FA Charity Shield: 1989

Career statistics

[5]

Club performance			League		Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
Season	Club	League	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
England			League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Total
1985–86	Arsenal	First Division	26	1
1986–87			36	2
1987–88			40	6
1988–89			38	6
1989–90			33	2
1990–91			16	2
1991–92			39	4
1992–93	Leeds United	Premier League	18	1
1993–94			7	1
1993–94	Manchester City	Premier League	21	2
1994–95	Chelsea	Premier League	28	0
1995–96			1	0
1996–97	Norwich City	First Division	11	0
1997–98	Hull City	Third Division	11	1
Malaysia			League		Malaysia Cup		League Cup		Asia		Total
1998	Sabah
Total	England		325	28
	Malaysia
Career total

References

1. ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1337584/Martin-Keown-The-day-I-thought-I-dying.html
2. ^ [1]
3. ^ [2]
4. ^ [3]

External links

• Rocastle profile on Arsenal-land
• The BBC obituary
• The David Rocastle Trust
• Rocky 7 Day (2008)
• David Rocastle career stats at Soccerbase
• Career information at ex-canaries.co.uk

Persondata
Name	Rocastle, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	2 May 1967
Place of birth	Lewisham, London, England
Date of death	31 March 2001
Place of death