Simon Thomas Peter Marsh (born 29 January 1977) is an English former 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 ...

who played in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

, Birmingham City and

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

Playing career

Marsh was born in

Ealing Ealing () is a district in West London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. Ealing is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Ealing was histor ...

, London. Primarily a

left back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, he joined

as a YTS trainee when he left school in 1993. 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. 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. In May 1998 he received his first call-up to the England under-21 team as part of the squad for the Toulon Tournament; he started England's first group game, a 1–1 draw with France under-21, but took no part in the remainder of the competition. Though that was his only cap for the full under-21 side, he played for a representative

under-21 team which drew 1–1 with their Italian Serie B counterparts in November 1998. 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. He had made 68 appearances for Oxford in all competitions. 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. 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. At the end of the 1999–2000 season, with no improvement in sight, he was told he should look for another club. In September 2000 Marsh joined

on loan. Despite his giving away a penalty on his debut, Brentford were interested on making the move permanent if a fee could be agreed. 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 A severance package is pay and benefits that employees may be entitled to receive when they leave employment at a company unwillfully. In addition to their remaining regular pay, it may include some of the following: * Any additional payment base ...

. 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. By the start of the 2002–03 season, his fitness had improved sufficiently for Tamworth to sign him. Minor injuries continued to disrupt Marsh's career, and a loan move to

Moor Green Moor Green is a historic home located near Brentsville, Prince William County, Virginia. It dates to the early-19th century, and is a two-story, five-bay, Federal style brick residence, with a one-room, two-story ell. It has a standing seam met ...

was suggested, but this did not happen because Tamworth were short of fit players. In February 2003, Marsh had to finish playing on medical advice after sustaining a serious back injury; his club went on to win the Southern League title and reach the final of the

FA Trophy The Football Association Challenge Trophy, commonly known as the FA Trophy, is a men's football knockout cup competition run by and named after the English Football Association and competed for primarily by semi-professional teams. The compet ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marsh, Simon 1977 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Ealing People from Ealing English men's footballers England men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football defenders Oxford United F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Tamworth F.C. players English Football League players Southern Football League players