Former Arsenal, Leeds, Manchester City and Chelsea midfielder David Rocastle lost his battle against cancer at the age of 33 on March 31, 2001; a shining light in the often dark days of the sport when football was far from the beautiful game, his loss would be felt throughout the football community as a whole.
Born in Lewisham, south east London, on May 2, 1967, Rocky would play a pivotal role in Arsenal’s success in the late 1980s and early 1990s while also helping to overcome the social barriers both on and off the field that often stood in the way of young black players at that time.
Having lost his father at an early age Rocastle threw himself into his football, often spending hour-upon-hour at the local park pitches near to his home which eventually proved to be fruitful as he was offered a trial with Arsenal in 1982.
Just a few years later Rocastle would be making his Arsenal debut at Highbury, playing alongside many of the stars he had watched as a young lad and more than holding his own despite being several years their junior.
And it wasn’t long before he became an Arsenal icon himself boasting flair, pace and agility in equal measure as his style of play blossomed during one of the most glorious periods for the Gunners during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Through much of the previous two decades Arsenal were seen as something of a workmanlike side, renowned for a direct style of play which was derided by many fans up and down the country with only the double win of 1971 and an FA Cup triumph in 1979 to punctuate the monotony; but Rocastle, along with a number of similarly talented and hungry youngsters like Niall Quinn, Paul Merson, Perry Groves and Tony Adams, was about to change all that.
With former double-winner George Graham now at the helm, a man who wasn’t afraid to blood youngsters who had come through the youth team and often at the expense of bigger and more established names, it was the dawn of a new era at the club.
In Graham’s first full season in charge at Highbury the club secured their first domestic silverware of the decade by beating Liverpool in the final of the 1987 Littlewoods Cup at Wembley with Rocastle, who scored the decisive goal in the semi-final against arch-rivals Spurs, instrumental in the win.
Just two seasons later and Rocastle would achieve the ultimate accolade with Arsenal when they won the Division One title in the dying minutes of the game at Anfield in what is still regarded as the greatest ever end to a league season.
Rocastle received a league title medal once again as part of Arsenal’s all-conquering side as they went through the whole of the 1990/91 season losing just one game; but it would be something of a swan song as he struggled for much of that campaign due to a persistent knee injury.
Despite playing almost every game of the following season a disappointing fourth place finish would see a number of Arsenal’s title winners offloaded, including Rocky, as George Graham showed little mercy and an offer from Leeds was accepted for the midfielder.
“He cried,” revealed former teammate Paul Davis. “He couldn’t understand why they ever wanted him to go. I don’t think he ever recovered from leaving Arsenal, in his own mind.”
Rocastle never reached the same level at Elland Road as he had in North London and soon moved on to Manchester City before signing for Chelsea in August 1994; but it was plain for all to see he was a shadow of his former self and loan stints at Norwich and Hull preceded a move to Malaysia where he finally hung up his boots in 1999.
Just two years after giving up the game for good Rocastle was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in February of 2001 and only a few weeks later one of the toughest tackling and tremendously talented players of his generation was dead.
Arsenal’s first game following the death of one of their favourite sons was a North London derby against Tottenham and the minute’s silence held in his memory before the game was impeccably observed by both sets of fans showing just how highly David Carlyle Rocastle was regarded; not just among Gunners fans, but the wider football family.
And when Arsenal moved to their new home, the Emirates Stadium, in 2006, Rocastle would be immortalised when he became one of 32 former players whose pictures adorn the outside of the ground; a fitting tribute to a man who was responsible for transforming the club from unfashionable also-rans into one of the dominant sides of the early Premier League era.
