Remembering Rocky: David Rocastle - Instant crowd idol!
It's 25 years today since the untimely passing of former City midfielder David Rocastle.To mark this sad moment, we’re resurfacing a special feature on the dynamic midfielder that was originally pub...
Remembering Rocky: David Rocastle - Instant crowd idol! It's 25 years today since the untimely passing of former City midfielder David Rocastle. To mark this sad moment, we’re resurfacing a special feature on the dynamic midfielder that was originally published in March 2020...
The tale of David Rocastle is ultimately a tragic one. The former Arsenal and England midfielder arrived at Maine Road via a short stay with Leeds United when David White moved to Elland Road in December 1993. Rocastle was part of a straight swap deal valued at £2m and he made his debut against Blackburn in a 1-1 draw just before the New Year.
He was an instant hit with the fans and his class shone through immediately in a side that included a number of budget signings. In fact, it was a City side seemingly headed for relegation, though that threat would not become reality for another couple of seasons. Rocastle – or ‘Rocky’ as he was known to the football world - was a two-time league champion with Arsenal and represented a beacon of hope in a largely miserable period for City fans.
The football wasn’t great, Peter Reid had been sacked at the start of the campaign and new manager Brian Horton was desperate to bring in some fresh players. Reid had few flair players in his squad and his predecessor Howard Kendall had even fewer, so to have a player who could lift you out of your seat with a bit of magic every now and then made Rocky an instant crowd favourite. For some reason, it always felt like his stay would be a brief one and even though he was only 26, he had suffered numerous injuries in recent seasons that were beginning to take their toll.