At the highest levels in sport, desire only gets you so far. Simply willing something to happen isn't enough, even if everything is in place for it to happen. Because of an pre-determined alignment, even though a fan craves success more than somebody who has no affiliation, that does not mean they are better placed to achieve it. The pressure of failure would be too much for many, should it occur a footballer may feel the pain of a thousand nameless faces whereas one who is so close to the support would be able to put names to those faces. On the other side, it may be overwhelming to work in an environment awash with heroes and legends. Surrounded by those who have been idolised from afar, how could anybody go about their job with any kind of detachment? We might like our players and managers to have an affinity toward the club, but if they still need to be objective and professional - for that is their purpose. If they are overwhelmed or sentimental by certain aspects then their judgement is clouded - to the detriment of the person in question, or even club itself.
Mike Marsh was a teenage boy from Kirkby and having just finished school without knowing what direction his life was to go, spent most of his free time with a ball at his feet. He played for Kirkby Town on Saturdays and The Railway Pub on Sundays, where he was first spotted by Phil Thompson. Following successful pre-season trials, the boyhood red would see his dream come true as he signed for Liverpool FC. Going from a pub team to the top division in the country to play for your boyhood club, it's the kind of story that every young football fan the world over dreams of. While it was an incredible tale it was still only the beginning, the rest of his story would not be quite as plain sailing however.
Having failed to make a single appearance in his debut season, Marsh would finally make his Liverpool debut some eighteen months after signing for the club. Coming on as a substitute for Jan Mølby, despite now having a taste of first team football he would still have to settle for reserve team football for a few more years until finally breaking into the team in the 1991-92 season at the age of twenty two. A couple of solid seasons followed on his way to making a hundred appearances, during which he managed to get himself an FA Cup winners medal and score in a dramatic come from behind win against Auxerre, before Marsh was sent off to West Ham along with David Burrows in order to bring Julian Dicks to Anfield. A subdued end to a Liverpool career that started so idealistically but his connection with the club however, would remain as strong as ever right throughout.
Something of a journeyman following his days at Liverpool, Marsh would have four clubs in the next four seasons. West Ham was followed by Coventry City and then a transfer to former boss Graeme Souness' Galatasary before joining Ronnie Whelan at Southend where he would go on to make eighty four appearances. Relegation with the Shrimpers in his second season with the club was then compounded with a serious knee injury. This would in turn prematurely end his professional career, for part of the agreement made with an insurance company payout that he received was that he never play league football again. Onto the Conference he went, where another familiar face would be waiting.
A breif spell with Barrow was cut short by another acquaintance with a former Liverpool teammate in linking up with Jan Mølby at Kiddiminster. Looking to enter the football league for the first time the Harriers ended up storming the division, winning it by a clear nine points and a goal difference of plus thirty five. Marsh captained the side in his twenty four appearances for the club and scored four league goals for them that season but was forced to leave the club following their promotion. A successful season at Southport in which he scored seven times was followed by another transfer to Boston United, during which he was once again part of a Conference winning side as well as now helping with the coaching staff. In his final playing season, Marsh went to Accrington Stanley and made his mark once again as they went on to win the Conference North. His journey as a footballer had taken him as a local lad from Kirkby all the way to the very top, to gradually slide back down the footballing ladder. As a coach it would start to go the other way.
Barely two months passed into his time as a manager at Burscough before he was on his way. Having barely even hung up his boots the summer prior, a poor start to the season saw him sacked in his first role in the dugout and it would be another two and a half years before he would be seen again on the touchline. Following his experiences at Burscough, he now wanted no part of being a manager but instead was looking to assist in the development of players as a coach as well as his playing his part in the Liverpool Masters side. Appointed at his former club Southend in July of 2006 but his stay was cut frustratingly short and after three months they parted ways. His next chance came in February of 2008 when Northwich Victoria appointed him on their coaching staff. His stay there would be fleeting after a short spell as caretaker manager exposed the depths to which the club were short of cash.
"At Northwich the players weren't paid for months and you can't go on working like that. I was getting phone calls from players saying they couldn't afford to pay their mortgage or put petrol in their cars to get to training. When the chairman asked me to lay a couple of players off I knew then it was time to call it a day." - Marsh on his time at Victoria and why he left.
Spending his time between the Preston U14s and Accrington and Rossendale College, a call came in. It wasn't quite as out of the blue and as dramatic as Phil Thompson stopping by to see Marsh play for The Railway pub but it that didn't matter, Liverpool wanted him back. He was to help with the under 14's and after a brief spell combining that roles with a coaching job at Bradford Park Avenue in 2009 he was promoted to helping Steve Cooper with the under 16's. It had been some fifteen years since he departed Anfield, a journey down a path nobody could have ever predicted and now he was back. Football always has a way of giving people a second chance.
A few turbulent years later at the top of the club had done little to temper success at youth level. Players like Conor Coady and Adam Morgan had progressed well and Marsh made the step up with them, moving on to manage the under 18's in the summer of 2011. Now reunited with being reunited with Kenny Daglish - the manager that gave him his debut back in 1990 - Marsh continued the work of Pep Segura and ended the season having won fifteen of his twenty eight youth league games in charge. The departure of Dalglish and subsequent arrival of Brendan Rodgers this summer has brought with it another summer of upheaval, but Rodgers has seen something in Marsh that he wants to have around in his new vision for the club. Another promotion beckons and this season, Mike Marsh will be a part of the coaching staff at Liverpool Football Club. His long journey had come full circle.
“For me it is very important to have people with the root of Liverpool in the their heart; the soul of the club." - Brendan Rodgers.
Ultimately, there needs to be that bond. Something that joins together the team to it's fans and the past to the present. Without that in place, it's impossible to build for the future because there are two sides of the club pulling in different directions. Liverpool Football Club, as much as it is a brand known the world over, is a reflection of the city and it's supporters. Roy Hodgson couldn't grasp that concept and - seemingly on purpose - continued to provoke the fans with his mindless rhetoric and is now gone. Kenny Dalglish was the opposite, but he is now gone too. The idea - like so much of everything else in football - is to get that balance right. Mike Marsh is a man who was born and raised in Liverpool, grew up supporting them, played for them and spent his entire footballing career influenced by his boyhood club. His story is not finished yet. In fact, he has a central role to play in this new chapter in the history of the club.
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