Born: Balham, 18 August 1964
Position: Central defender; right back; midfielder
Signed: 20 August 1982 (apprentice)
Fulham debut: Fulham 0-2 Portsmouth, 3 September 1983
Fulham appearances: 486
Fulham goals: 37
Honours: Third Division runners-up (1996-97).
Sold: 31 May 1998 (retired)
A one-club man, Balham-born John Marshall spent a quarter of a century with Fulham firstly as a player, then as a coach and chief scout. He came through the Whites’ junior set up as an apprentice, having began training with the Whites at the age of thirteen and making his youth team debut aged fifteen in 1980. Marshall formally signed apprenticeship forms in August 1982.
Marshall is Fulham’s fourth highest appearance-maker of all time, playing 486 first-team games in a playing career that spanned more than a quarter of century. The versatile utility man came out of retirement to help Micky Adams’ men win promotion from Division Three in 1997. He might well have broken John Haynes’ appearance record had he not broken his leg in two places against Gillingham in April 1995. Marshall started as a centre half when he joined Fulham as a schoolboy, but was deployed as a striker when he broke into the first-team in 1983/84 before operating as a right back and then on the right side of midfield for much of his career.
He scored several spectacular strikes but was a regular provider of goals for his team-mates. He quickly established himself in the side, holding the unfortunate distinction of starting every game as Fulham were relegated from the Second Division in 1985/86. He starred as Ray Lewington’s side reached the Third Division play-offs in 1988/89 and looked on course to set a new Fulham all-time appearance record before that untimely injury against Gillingham in 1995 restricted his first-team appearances. Marshall coached Fulham’s youth sides from the mid-nineties onwards and retired again after the Whites had won promotion under Adams, but continued to work at Craven Cottage – becoming Fulham’s chief scout. He worked for Leicester City, Nottingham Forest, the Football Association and Wolverhampton Wanderers in various scouting and recruitment positions and remains involved in the game as a highly-regarded consultant.
