Cliff Marshall (4 November 1955 – 24 November 2021) was an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

. Marshall began his career at Everton but found first-team opportunities limited. He joined the

Miami Toros The Miami Toros was a professional soccer team in the North American Soccer League from 1972 to 1976. The club was founded in 1967 as the Washington Darts, and moved to Miami, where they played the 1972 season in the NASL's Southern Division as ...

of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

in 1976, but returned to England to sign for Southport later that year. He is often described as the first black Everton player, though sociologist Mark Christian notes that he was preceded by

Mike Trebilcock Michael Trebilcock (born 29 November 1944) is an English retired professional footballer. He played primarily as a winger and is most famous for scoring twice in the 1966 FA Cup Final for Everton, becoming the first black player to score in a ...

, who may not have been recognised as such "due to his ambiguous black mixed heritage". Marshall died on 24 November 2021, at the age of 66.

Career

Everton

Signed by manager Billy Bingham, Marshall joined Everton, his boyhood team, from youth football in 1973; he turned down interest from

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

to join the club, later saying, "I could have gone to Liverpool or Man United, but I was always going to choose Everton." He graduated to the club's first-team squad in the 1974–75 season, making his debut for ''the Toffees'' on 11 January 1975 after coming on as a substitute in a 3–0 win over Leicester City in the First Division. Marshall made his first start for the club the following week on 18 January in another 3–0 win, this time away to

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

. He was awarded one further league start and one

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

appearance in the remainder of the season. The 1975–76 season saw Marshall make four league starts. Frustrated by a lack of playing time, he looked for a transfer at the end of the season. Speaking in 2009, Marshall revealed that a dispute with coaching staff at

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a football stadium in the Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area 2 miles (3 km) north of Liverpool ...

also contributed to his exit: "In the end, I got a bit disillusioned t Everton I loved playing football, football was my first love. But what disillusioned me was some of the coaches at Everton said 'your first priority is to defend', and I didn't like that. I'm an attacker; defending should be my second priority. I moved on."

Miami Toros

On 17 May 1976, ''The Miami News'' reported that Marshall had been "signed in England early last week by iamiToros general manager John Young." The

were playing in the

's Eastern Division, and had only existed as the Toros since 1972. Marshall made his debut on 14 May in a 4–2 loss to the Chicago Sting and two days later he scored his first goal for the club in a 1–0 win over the Seattle Sounders; ''The Miami News'' praised his "speed and hustle", which had "changed the complexion of Miami's attack." The winger went on to record five goals and two assists that year, but was forced to leave Miami at the end of the season when the Toros folded. Marshall's spell in the US ended on a positive note, as he scored a hat-trick in his final Toros appearance, a 5–4 win over the

Boston Minutemen The Boston Minutemen were an American professional soccer team based out of Boston that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL). They played from 1974 to 1976. Their home fields included Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, Schaefer Stadium ...

on 15 August 1976.NASL 1976: Boston Minutemen 4–5 Miami Toros
Soccerstats.us. 15 August 1976. Retrieved 8 June 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Cliff 1955 births 2021 deaths English footballers Footballers from Liverpool Men's association football forwards Everton F.C. players Southport F.C. players Miami Toros players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players English sportspeople of Barbadian descent Black British sportsmen English Football League players English expatriate footballers English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States