David Carlyle Rocastle, nicknamed Rocky Rocastle, (born 2 May 1967 in Lewisham, London - March 31, 2001) was an English football player, who spent the majority of his career at Arsenal F.C. He was cousin of now Oldham Athletic midfielder Craig Rocastle and his brother Stephen was on the books of Norwich City FC. May 2 is the 122nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (123rd in leap years). ... 1967 (MCMLXVII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar (the link is to a full 1967 calendar). ... Lewisham is an area within the London Borough of Lewisham in south-east London. ... London (pronounced ) is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom(coming from Roman Londinium ). An important settlement for around two millennia, London is today one of the worlds most important business and financial centres, [1] and its involvement in politics, culture, education, entertainment, media, fashion, sport and... March 31 is the 90th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (91st in Leap years), with 275 days remaining. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2005 est. ... Football (soccer) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Arsenal Football Club (also known as Arsenal, The Arsenal or The Gunners) are an English professional football club based in north London. ... Oldham Athletic Association Football Club are an English football team currently playing in Football League One. ... Craig Rocastle (born August 17, 1981 in London) is an English football player of Grenadian & Trinidadian Descent. ... Norwich City Football Club is a football club based in Norwich, England. ...

Career at Arsenal

On leaving school in the summer of 1983 he joined Arsenal as an apprentice and spent two years in the youth team before signing a professional contract just before the start of the 1985-86 season. He made his debut against Newcastle United and soon became a regular member of the first team. In 1987, just before his 20th birthday, he won a League Cup winners medal after Arsenal beat Liverpool in the final at Wembley. He was a member of the Arsenal side which reached the final against Luton Town the following year but Arsenal surrendered a 2-1 lead and ended up losing 3-2 to a last minute Luton goal. Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football team based in Newcastle upon Tyne, nicknamed the Magpies, who currently play in the FA Premier League. ... The Football League Cup, commonly known as the League Cup, is an English football competition. ... Liverpool Football Club is a football club based in Merseyside, in the north west of England. ... Wembley Stadium is a football stadium located in Wembley, London. ... Luton Town Football Club are an English football team based in the town of Luton in Bedfordshire. ...

Rocastle won two league championship medals with Arsenal. The first came in 1989, when he played in almost every game. Arsenal's success was sealed when they beat Liverpool 2-0 in the final game of the season at Anfield, snatching the title of the hosts on goal difference. But Arsenal were unable to compete in the 1989-90 European Champions Cup because the ban on English clubs in European competition after the 1985 Heysel tragedy still had one year to run. Arsenal finished fourth in the 1989-90 league season and missed out on a return to Europe because only the runners-up were entitled to a UEFA Cup place. Anfield (sometimes known as Anfield Road) is a football stadium in the district of Anfield, in Liverpool, England. ... In sports such as ice hockey and soccer, goal difference (that is, goals scored less goals conceded) is often the first tie-breaker used to rank teams which finish a competition with an equal number of points. ... Champions League Logo The UEFA Champions League is an annual international inter-club football competition between Europes most successful clubs, regarded as the most prestigious club trophy in the sport. ... The Heysel Stadium disaster occurred due to football hooliganism in which a retaining wall of the Heysel Stadium in Brussels collapsed on May 29, 1985 during a football match between Liverpool F.C. from England and Juventus FC from Italy. ... The UEFA Cup is a football competition for European club teams, organized by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). ...

In 1990-91, a knee injury restricted David Rocastle to just 18 league appearances for Arsenal but he still played his part in Arsenal winning the league championship - losing only one league game all season. The following season he only missed three out of 42 league games.

During his time with Arsenal, David Rocastle was capped 14 times for England and although he did not score any goals he was never on the losing side and looked set for a long and successful international career. But in 1992 he played his 14th and last game for England. First international Scotland 0 - 0 England (Partick, Scotland; 30 November 1872) Largest win Ireland 0 - 13 England (Belfast, Ireland; 18 February 1882) Worst defeat Hungary 7 - 1 England (Budapest, Hungary; 23 May 1954) World Cup Appearances 12 (First in 1950) Best result Winners, 1966 European Championship Appearances 7 (First in...

Career after Arsenal

At the end of 1991-92, David Rocastle was sold to league champions Leeds United in a £2million deal. Manager Howard Wilkinson saw Rocastle as an eventual replacement for the veteran Gordon Strachan as Leeds entered the first-ever Premier League, but in fact Strachan still had three more seasons left as a regular player at Elland Road. Rocastle, meanwhile, was kept out of the side by both injury and competition from other players. He was at the club until December 1993, when he was transferred to Manchester City for £2million as replacement for David White, who in turn had joined Leeds earlier that month. Leeds United Association Football Club are the only professional association football club in the city of Leeds. ... Howard Wilkinson (born 13 November 1943 in Sheffield) is a former English football manager. ... Gordon David Strachan OBE (born 9 February 1957, in Edinburgh) is a retired Scottish football player, and is now a football manager. ... The FA Premier League (often referred to as the Barclays Premiership in the UK and the Barclays English Premier League internationally) is a league competition for football clubs located at the top of the English football league system (above The Football League), making it Englands primary football competition. ... Elland Road is the home stadium of the football team Leeds United. ... Manchester City Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Manchester. ...

But the move to Maine Road was not a success for Rocastle. At the end of the season, manager Brian Horton snapped up the Swindon winger Nicky Summerbee (son of former City player Mike) and Rocastle's days at the club looked numbered. So, just before the start of the 1994-95 season, he was transferred to Chelsea in a £1.25million deal. Maine Road was a football stadium in Moss Side, Manchester, England. ... Brian Horton (born 1948) is the manager of Macclesfield Town and is one of the few managers in English football to have taken charge of teams in more than a thousand games. ... Swindon Town Football Club are an English football team. ... // Early Career Born in Manchester on August 26th 1971, Summerbee had trails at Manchester United, Leicester, and Norwich, before joining Swindon, where his father, former England international Mike Summerbee, had connections. ... Mike Summerbee or buzzer played in the all conquering Manchester City side of the late 6os and early 70s. ... Chelsea Football Club (also known as The Blues or previously as The Pensioners), founded in 1905, are an English Premier League football team. ...

In 1994-95, David Rocastle played in nearly 40 games for Chelsea and scored two goals in the European Cup Winners Cup, in which Chelsea reached the semi finals and lost to eventual winners Zaragoza by a single goal. The following season his injuries returned and he played just one game for the club in October 1995 against Blackburn, although he remained on the club's pay roll until his contract expired in the summer of 1998. In 1996-97 Rocastle was loaned out to Norwich City and in 1997-98 had a brief spell on loan to Hull City, but nothing came of either spell and both times he ended up back in the Stamford Bridge reserve team. The Cup Winners Cup was a football club competition between the winners of the European domestic cup competitions. ... Norwich City Football Club are a football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England, founded in 1902. ... Hull City Association Football Club are an English football team based at the KC Stadium (Kingston Communications Stadium) in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire. ... Stamford Bridge is a football stadium in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham that is home to Chelsea Football Club. ...

On completing his contract with Chelsea in 1998, David Rocastle joined the Malaysian team Sabah (www.sabahrhinos.com) on a free transfer but was unable to stay clear of injury and retired after just one season.

Illness and death

In February 2001, David Rocastle announced that he was suffering from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, an aggressive form of cancer which attacks the immune system. He underwent a course of chemotherapy for the illness and was hopeful of a recovery. But he died on 31 March 2001, aged only 33, and was buried six days later after a funeral service attended by many well known footballers of the past and the present. Non-Hodgkins lymphoma is a type of cancer. ... Chemotherapy is the use of chemical substances to treat disease. ... March 31 is the 90th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (91st in Leap years), with 275 days remaining. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ...

David Rocastle is survived by his wife Janet, son Ryan and daughters Melissa and Monique. Six weeks after David Rocastle's death, his son Ryan was Arsenal's mascot in their FA Cup final match against Liverpool in which they took the lead but ended up losing 2-1 because of two last gasp goals by Michael Owen. Note: for the full results of all FA Cup finals, see FA Cup Final The FA Cup - this is the fourth trophy, in use since 1992, and identical in design to the third trophy introduced in 1911. ... For other people named Michael Owen, see Michael Owen (disambiguation). ...

Five years and a day after his death, 1 April 2006 was designated "David Rocastle Day", as part of the themed matchday celebrations of Arsenal's final season at their stadium Highbury. Fans paid tribute to Rocastle before the match with a minute's applause. Arsenal ran out 5-0 winners over Aston Villa. April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 274 days remaining. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Arsenal Stadium has been the home ground of Arsenal Football Club since 1913. ... Aston Villa Football Club play at Villa Park in Aston, Birmingham, England. ...

Arsenal have also opened up a new youth team indoor training facility named after the player, as a tribute to his contributions to Arsenal FC.

External links

• Rocastle profile on Arsenal-land
• The BBC obituary
• The David Rocastle Trust
• David Rocastle career stats at Soccerbase