Marcus Gayle

Marcus Gayle

Personal information
Full name	Marcus Anthony Gayle[1]
Date of birth	27 September 1970 (1970-09-27) (age 41)
Place of birth	Hammersmith, London, England
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Playing position	Defender, Midfielder, Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1988–1994	Brentford	156	(22)
1990	→ KuPS (loan)	22	(9)
1994–2001	Wimbledon	236	(37)
2001	Rangers	4	(0)
2001–2005	Watford	102	(5)
2005–2006	Brentford	30	(2)
2006–2007	Aldershot Town	24	(7)
2007–2008	AFC Wimbledon	29	(3)
Total		603	(85)
National team
1998–2000	Jamaica	14	(3)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Marcus Anthony Gayle (born 27 September 1970, Hammersmith, London) is an English born Jamaican former professional footballer who played as a striker or winger, though towards the end of his career he also played as a central defender. He is the current reserve team manager of AFC Wimbledon.

As a player, Gayle played from 1989 until 2008, notably in the Premier League for Wimbledon and Watford, and in the Scottish Premier League for Rangers. He has also played for Brentford, KuPS and Aldershot Town before ending his career with AFC Wimbledon, the supporter owned club that was formed out of the ashes of the former Wimbledon who had become the Milton Keynes Dons. Gayle became the second player to feature for both clubs following Jermaine Darlington. Gayle also earned 14 caps for the Jamaica national football team, featuring in FIFA World Cup 1998 in France.

Club career

Brentford

Gayle started his career at Brentford in 1988, scoring 26 goals in 193 appearances for the Bees. He was loaned to KuPS in 1990, before becoming a regular player in the Brentford side under new manager Phil Holder in 1990-91, when the Bees qualified for the playoffs but lost to eventual promotion winners Tranmere Rovers in the semi finals. He played 33 games in the Third Division that season, scoring six goals. He was a key part in their Third Division title success for the 1991-92 season, scoring 6 goals in 38 games to give Brentford a place in the new Division One, as the old Second Division would be known from the start of the 1992-93 campaign due to the creation of the FA Premier League. The 1992-93 season looked as though it would be a successful one for the Bees, who entered the new year in 10th place and on the brink of the playoff zone, with all the talk at Griffin Park being about a second successive promotion and top division football for the first time since 1947. However, a collapse in the second half of the season saw the Bees relegated. Gayle initially remained loyal to the Bees, but on 24 March 1994 he linked up with his old Brentford striker partner Gary Blissett in a £250,000 move to Wimbledon, who were in the process of finishing a creditable sixth place in the Premier League.

Wimbledon

He made his debut for Wimbledon two days after joining them as they beat Leeds United 1-0. He played in their final 10 games of the 1993-94, but unfortunately did not score. He scored his first two goals in 1994-95, playing 23 games as the Dons finished ninth. He missed just four league games in the 1995-96 season, scoring five goals and helping Wimbledon finish 14th. In his best season for the Dons, 1996-97, he scored eight league goals as the Dons finished eighth in the Premier League and reached the semi finals of both domestic cups. He also scored the winning goal for the Dons in a surprise FA Cup fourth round replay 1-0 win over Manchester United in February 1997.[1]

1997-98 was less successful. The Dons began the season well and were in the top five for much of the first half of the season, but a dismal second half of the campaign saw them finish 15th. Gayle was a regular player once again, appearing 30 times in the league, but scored just twice. He was their top scorer in 1998-99, scoring 10 league goals, but once again their good form tailed away to a late season slump and they finished 16th. He did manage seven goals in 1999-2000, but defeat to Southampton on the final day of the season and a surprise win for relegation rivals Bradford City over Liverpool meant that Wimbledon's 14-year stay in the top flight was over.

Rangers

Gayle initially stayed loyal to the Dons in spite of their relegation, playing 32 league games and scoring three times in the 2000-01 campaign before he finally departed on 9 March 2001 in a £1million move to Scottish Premier League giants Rangers. In seven years at Wimbledon, he had played 226 league games and scored 37 goals.[2]

Watford

He played just four times for the Gers until a close season return to England when he joined Watford for £900,000. His performances in the Premiership earned him a call up to the Jamaica national team and he was included in their squad for the 1998 World Cup. was expected to leave, along with most of Vialli's other unsuccessful signings, in the summer of 2002. However, he re-emerged as a centre-back under new manager Ray Lewington, and won the Player of the Season award that year. He also scored in the club's 2–1 defeat to Southampton in the FA Cup semi-finals. Another good season followed in 2003–04, but injury plagued his 2004–05, and he left Watford two days after the sacking of Lewington in March 2005.

Return to Brentford

He re-joined Brentford, his first club and made 37 appearances for the Bees. Gayle was released from his Brentford contract on 17 May 2006.

Aldershot Town

He signed for Aldershot Town on 2 July 2006. He scored the first hat-trick of his career for the Shots on 14 October 2006, coming on as a second-half substitute to score three times in just 9 mins 30 seconds against Kidderminster Harriers.^[2] He was released by Aldershot at the end of 2006–07 season .

AFC Wimbledon

He was signed for AFC Wimbledon in May 2007 by former Aldershot manager Terry Brown, making him only the second player to play competitively for both AFC Wimbledon and the old Wimbledon FC (the first being Jermaine Darlington)^[3] and, after scoring against Maidenhead United in the FA Trophy,^[4] becoming the only player to have scored for both incarnations of the South West London club.

International career

Gayle was capped 14 times for Jamaica and played at the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France.

Managerial career

AFC Wimbledon

He announced his retirement from competitive football after AFC Wimbledon sealed promotion to the Conference South following a 2–1 Isthmian League Premier play-off final victory over Staines Town.^[5][6] He is presently working towards his coaching badges and in September 2008 took the role of AFC Wimbledon reserve team manager.^[7] Marcus is a member of the Wimbledon Old Players Association and has played for Wimbledon's Masters side and Old Players XI.^[6]

Away from football

Until 2010 Gayle owned a designer clothes shop in Fulham, London called 3 Tribes.^[8]

References

1. ^ "Search 1984 to 2006 – Birth, Marriage and Death indexes". Findmypast.com. http://www.findmypast.co.uk/birth-indexes-search-start.action. Retrieved 2010-08-12. 
2. ^ Gayle realises hat-trick dream
3. ^ Marcus comes home
4. ^ Dons march on in the Trophy
5. ^ Gayle quits as Dons rebuild squad
6. ^ ^{a b} Dons legend Gayle leaves his Marcus!
7. ^ .in his first year of taking over he guided his talented squad to two cup finals ,winning the suburban league challenge cup and runners up in the suburban challenge shield in 2009.runners up in the league came in 2010.2011 his reserves collected the league trophy for the very first time and the champions cup too, very unlucky not to pick up the treble after losing to south park in the suburban premier cup. Terry's latest signing
8. ^ FOOTBALL: WHEN 3 TRIBES GO TO WAR..

External links

• Marcus Gayle career stats at Soccerbase

Persondata
Name	Marcus Gayle
Alternative names
Short description	Footballer
Date of birth	27 September 1970
Place of birth	Hammersmith, London, England
Date of death
Place of death