43 Facts About David Rocastle

1.

David Carlyle Rocastle was an English professional footballer who played as a midfielder in the roles of a playmaker and a winger.

2.

David Rocastle spent the majority of his career at Arsenal where he was nicknamed "Rocky".

3.

David Rocastle played for the England national team, in all earning 14 international caps for the Three Lions.

4.

Arsene Wenger, who became Arsenal manager four years after David Rocastle left the club, has described him as "a modern player, because the revolution of the game has gone on to more technique, and more skill" and as having an "exceptional dimension as a footballer".

5.

David Rocastle is seen as a universally popular, iconic and legendary figure by many fans of the Gunners.

6.

David Rocastle was born in Lewisham on 2 May 1967 to Caribbean immigrants Leslie and Linda David Rocastle, who moved to London during the 1950s.

7.

David Rocastle's father died aged 29 in 1972 from pneumonia when Rocastle was five years old, and his mother Linda subsequently remarried and had two more children.

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8.

David Rocastle attended the Turnham Primary School and the Roger Manwood secondary school in his teenage years.

9.

David Rocastle remained a regular player in the first team following the departure of Don Howe and the appointment of George Graham as manager in May 1986.

10.

Once again David Rocastle won the Barclays Young Eagle award, with the honour bestowed upon him at the end of the 1989 season.

11.

David Rocastle was struggling with a knee injury and had a decline in form, so he had an exploratory surgery on his knee to come back before the end of the season.

12.

David Rocastle started the games in the first two months of that winning season.

13.

David Rocastle played against Manchester United 20 October 1990 at Old Trafford, and was involved and fined after the brawl.

14.

David Rocastle scored four league goals in his last season.

15.

David Rocastle was tasting European football for the first time as Arsenal reached the second round of the European Cup.

16.

In seven years for Arsenal David Rocastle played 277 games and scored 34 goals, collecting two league title medals and a winner's medal in the League Cup, and playing the 1989 FA Charity Shield and 1991 FA Charity Shield at Wembley.

17.

However, Strachan would go on to spend nearly three more years at Elland Road and remained a regular first team player for two more seasons, by which time David Rocastle had left the West Yorkshire club.

18.

David Rocastle went on to play a total of 34 games for Leeds, only half of them in the starting line-up.

19.

Many Leeds fans would have liked to see the manager Wilkinson place more faith in David Rocastle, because he was a popular figure, with glimpses of his outstanding technical ability shining through in spite of repeated injury problems.

20.

David Rocastle was an instant hit with the fans and his class shone through immediately in a side that included a number of budget signings.

21.

However, Chelsea manager Glenn Hoddle took the view that sixty minutes of David Rocastle was worth ninety minutes of many other players.

22.

David Rocastle would go on to play 40 times for Chelsea and scored two goals in his time there.

23.

David Rocastle's experience proved invaluable throughout a European Cup-Winners Cup run which ended at the Semi-Final stage, going out to eventual winners Real Zaragoza by a single goal on aggregate.

24.

David Rocastle was loaned out to Norwich City in Division One, and made his Norwich debut against Grimsby Town on 18 January 1997.

25.

David Rocastle impressed the Norwich fans with his intelligent passing and commitment and Mike Walker extended his loan spell for a second month.

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26.

However Norwich were unable to meet his wage demands and David Rocastle returned to Chelsea after 11 games in yellow and green.

27.

David Rocastle had trials with clubs including Aberdeen and Southampton shortly afterwards.

28.

In October 1997, David Rocastle was loaned out to Hull City in Division Three, and scored on his debut for the Tigers against Scarborough.

29.

David Rocastle eventually left Chelsea in 1998 to join up with Malaysian team Sabah on a free transfer.

30.

David Rocastle quickly became a highly influential and popular player at the club and still had the knack of occasionally producing outstanding goals.

31.

David Rocastle then saw Sabah upon a memorable run to the 1998 Malaysian FA Cup final where he earned a runners up medal.

32.

David Rocastle eventually brought his playing days to an end in December 1999 due to injury.

33.

David Rocastle never found himself on the losing side as England won seven of the internationals that he appeared in and drew the other seven.

34.

David Rocastle was excluded although he had played in five of England's six World Cup qualifying matches.

35.

David Rocastle was one of 26 players chosen by the manager, Bobby Robson, to go to training camp before the tournament, but he was one of four dropped from the official 22-man squad.

36.

David Rocastle won 14 full caps for England but did not score.

37.

David Rocastle underwent a course of chemotherapy and was hopeful of a recovery.

38.

David Rocastle died on 31 March 2001, aged 33, and was survived by his wife and children.

39.

Many years later, it was revealed that David Rocastle's cancer had been declared terminal from the time of his diagnosis in October 2000.

40.

David Rocastle is one of 32 Arsenal legends honoured by having their images illustrated on the side of the new Emirates Stadium.

41.

Hull City paid tribute to David Rocastle by erecting a sign in his honour at the KC Stadium for their league match against Arsenal in May 2015.

42.

David Rocastle is the cousin of another professional footballer, Craig Rocastle, and his brother Stephen played for Norwich City and was on the books of Derry City as well.

43.

The David Rocastle Trust is a charity based in London, UK founded in memory of Rocastle.