Fulham Marsh began his career with
First Division side
Fulham, and made his debut against
Aston Villa at
Craven Cottage on 23 March 1963 after
Johnny Haynes picked up an injury. He scored the winning goal on his debut with a volley from a
George Cohen cross, prompting manager
Bedford Jezzard to state that "No boy could have had a better first game". The incident left him with a permanent loss of hearing in his left ear.
Queens Park Rangers Marsh moved
across West London to join
Queens Park Rangers, then in the
Third Division, after manager
Alec Stock paid out a £15,000 fee in March 1966. QPR finished third at the end of the
1965–66 campaign, eight points outside promoted
Millwall. His
first full season with Rangers was his most successful, as he formed an effective strike partnership with
Les Allen, whilst
Roger Morgan and
Mark Lazarus delivered reliable service from the wings. Marsh scored his first hat-trick for the club in a 4–0 win over
Middlesbrough. He scored 44 goals in 53 games as the club became Third Division champions; his 30 league goals made him the division's
top-scorer. QPR also won the
League Cup, with Marsh setting Rangers on their way with four goals during a 5–0 victory over
Colchester United at
Layer Road. Lazarus scored QPR's third goal six minutes later to win the game 3–2. A week after the final
Tottenham Hotspur manager witnessed Marsh put in a strong performance against
Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic and he offered to pay QPR £180,000 for Marsh and Morgan, but his offer was rejected by chairman
Jim Gregory. By the time Marsh recovered from his injury manager
Tommy Docherty's first 28-day spell in charge at
Loftus Road had come and gone. In summer 1969, Marsh was sent off in a friendly against
Rangers after punching
Kai Johansen in retaliation for a kick Johansen gave Marsh. In the
1969–70 season he and
Barry Bridges shared 46 goals equally between them, as QPR finished in ninth position. They also reached the quarter-finals of the
FA Cup, which was then the club's joint-best achievement in the competition. Marsh again hit 23 goals in the
1970–71 campaign, as Rangers again finished in mid-table obscurity under the stewardship of
Gordon Jago. However Marsh lost his captaincy to new signing
Terry Venables. He hit 20 goals in the
1971–72 season to finish as the club's top-scorer for the second successive season. Before the season began he signed a new contract on the understanding that he would leave the club if they could not achieve promotion by the end of the season. Marsh became
City's top-scorer, scoring 19 goals in
1972–73. However the club entered into a decline when Allison resigned in March 1973; over the next year
Johnny Hart,
Tony Book and
Ron Saunders all had spells as City manager. The "Sky Blues" finished 11th in 1972–73 and 14th in
1973–74. They did though reach
the final of the
League Cup in 1974, losing 2–1 to
Wolverhampton Wanderers at
Wembley. Marsh was so disappointed by the defeat he threw away his runners-up medal. Tony Book started his second spell as City's manager in April 1974, and despite being club captain Marsh showed no respect for Book. City finished eighth in
1974–75 and
1975–76. Marsh was transfer-listed and sent to train with the reserves after chairman
Peter Swales told Book the details of a private conversation the pair had held: If you think I'm effing useless it's not going to work. Do you want to take it back? (Book) No chance. In fact, thinking about it more, you're not that good. (Marsh)
Later career In the middle of 1975 Marsh played a handful of matches for
Cork Hibernians for a fee of £600 a game. He later was flown to
Los Angeles as a guest of
Elton John, who was then chairman of the
Los Angeles Aztecs in the
NASL, but before he agreed to join the club he was approached in January 1976 by the
Tampa Bay Rowdies. He was sold to the Rowdies in April 1976 for a £40,000 fee. He played from 1976 to 1979 in the States, leading the Rowdies to the
Soccer Bowl in his final two seasons. Both times they would come up short. Marsh was a NASL All-Star every year, making the first-team in 1976 and 1978, the second team in 1977 and as an Honorable Mention in his final season. Despite this success he suffered from depression and was drinking heavily for much of his time there. Head coach
Eddie Firmani resigned from the club in 1977 after becoming frustrated with Marsh's ill-discipline; he was replaced by
John Boyle. Marsh stopped his drinking after his doctor told him that alcohol was destroying his liver and seriously shortening his life expectancy. Marsh left the club after being forced out in 1979. He went off in another tantrum after being substituted with ten minutes to go of his competitive career by head coach
Gordon Jago. While serving as Rowdies manager for the 1986–87
AISA season, the long-retired Marsh was pressed into service once again as a player, due to a rash of injuries on the squad. He spent the winter of the
1976–77 season on loan at
Fulham, now in the
Second Division, after learning that
George Best would also be playing at
Craven Cottage. The "Cottagers" were then a fashionable club where celebrities would often be in attendance and players like Marsh and Best would spend much of their free time in London nightclubs; manager
Alec Stock ensured that the partying off the pitch did not hamper progress on the pitch. Stock resigned and new boss
Bobby Campbell took the club as high as fourth place before a run of nine defeats in 12 games saw Fulham slide down the table. The bleak wintery conditions eventually took their toll on Best and Marsh, who both returned to the US early in 1976. ==International career==