David Rocastle remembered

Most kids of today – those who haven’t been tempted in to petty theft, holding up their local Post Office with a sawn-off, or dealing wraps of Class A in Stockwell – will no doubt have a football idol. The player they imagine they are when they’re running down the road with a 99p fly-away football at their feet. The player whose name they have on the back of their £100 kit. The player whose poster they have on their wall. I imagine the players of choice today are Tevez, Torres, Drogba, Rooney.

Twenty years ago and more mine was David Rocastle. In the days before we were treated to the influx of tricky and technical foreign stars that dominate the game today, ‘Rocky’ stood out for his skills, his confidence on the ball and his ability to take people on. He was both fast and strong, had an eye for a pass, and ran defenders ragged.

When Rocky got the ball, you would hear the crowd lift. He was the man who could do something special, change a game, make a difference. He frequently did. He scored important goals that took us to Wembley - and at Tottenham, too - he was an integral part of that famous night at Anfield on 26 May 1989, and he scored wonder goals – including the lob at Old Trafford that I was stood right behind.

And he did all this despite being part of a George Graham side – built on defensive stability, tracking back and never taking risks.

Rocky wasn’t just a special player either. He was a good person. He never failed a drugs test, beat up his wife, drove his car into a wall or got caught on camera hurling abuse and swearwords in a linesman’s face. He was the archetypal role model footballers should be in return for the money they earn and for being able to do a job they love.

As a result of all of these things, throughout the mid-to-late 1980s, a yellow away shirt with blue sleeves and ‘Rocky 7’ emblazoned across the back was my out-of-school shirt of choice. If I was playing football, it was on. And if I wasn’t, it was usually on. Rocky was about as close as I have ever come to having a hero.

Ten years ago today, at the age of just 33, David Rocastle died of cancer. Those of us who followed the Arsenal throughout the 1980s will never forget him.

And so we shouldn’t…