Mark Fish
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| Mark Fish | ||
 |
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mark Anthony Fish | |
| Date of birth | 14 March 1974 | |
| Place of birth | Cape Town, South Africa | |
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) | |
| Playing position | Defender | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Jomo Cosmos | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1991-1993 1993-1996 1996-1997 1997-2000 2000-2005 2005 2007 |
Jomo Cosmos Orlando Pirates Lazio Bolton Wanderers Charlton Athletic Ipswich Town (loan) Jomo Cosmos |
53 (3) 110 (11) 15 (1) 103 (3) 102 (3) 1 (0) 0 (0) |
| National team2 | ||
| 1993-2004 |  South Africa |
62 (2) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
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Mark Fish (born 14 March 1974 in Cape Town) is a retired South African footballer.
Contents |
[edit] Club career
Fish started his career in his native South Africa under the guidance of renowned coach Steve Coetsee, playing for Arcadia Sheperds, an amateur team based at the Caledonian Stadium in Pretoria. He was spotted by then Jomo Cosmos coach Roy Matthews and turned professional as a striker. It was at Cosmos that he was converted into a central defender and went on to become one of the most promising defenders in South Africa at the time.
In 1994 Fish was signed by Orlando Pirates after Cosmos were relegated. At Pirates he arguably played the best football of his career under the tutelage of Mark Makaab. He also won the league championship at Pirates, as well as the BP Top Eight Cup in 1994, the 1995 African Champions League and the 1995 Bobsave Super Bowl (then the premier cup in South Africa). In 1996 he was part of the history making South African national team to have won the African Cup of Nations at the first attempt after South Africa's readmission to FIFA in 1992.
Soon foreign scouts came knocking and he was signed by Lazio of Italy, after he turned down an opportunity to play for his boyhood club, Manchester United. However he did move to England after just one season at Lazio to become the highest paid player at Bolton Wanderers. Fish was a mainstay in Bolton's back four for much of their first season back in the Premiership, he received praise from both team mates and those whom he played against, most notably Manchester United forward Andrew Cole. Despite Fish's efforts Bolton were relegated on the last day of the season despite having accumulated 44 points, normally enough to stave off the drop. Once playing back in the lower leagues Fish applied himself well, however, new suitors soon came calling, and only after the appointment of Sam Allardyce did Fish's star begin to fall in the North of Lancashire. Fish soon followed his Danish team mate Claus Jensen and at Alan Curbishley's second time of asking moved to Charlton Athletic in a £700,000 move in November 2000. "The Big Fish" as he was affectionately known throughout his playing career went on to make 102 Premiership appearances for the Addicks, scoring three times.
In 2005 he began to fall out of favour at Charlton. He went on to have a very short loan spell (45 mins) at Ipswich Town in the 2005-06 season but a severe cruciate ligament injury led to Fish announcing his retirement.
However, in February 2007, Fish returned to football when he signed a six-month contract with his first club Jomo Cosmos.
[edit] International career
Internationally, Fish is best remembered as being a crucial part of South Africa's victorious national soccer squad when they won the African Cup of Nations in 1996. In total he won 62 caps for the South African national team, scoring twice.
[edit] Personal life
He is married to Loui Fish (née Visser), a former lingerie model and well known socialite. They have two sons, Luke Fish (born in Bolton) & Zeke Fish.
Fish has returned from Europe to his homeland South Africa and has been actively involved in charity work, much of it aimed at the development of African soccer and the eradication of African poverty. He was one of a handful of Ambassadors in South Africa's successful bid to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
[edit] Further reading
- Graeme Friedman "Madiba's Boys The Stories of Lucas Radebe and Mark Fish" Comerford & Miller, United Kingdom ISBN 1 919 888 08 Features a foreword by Nelson Mandela
[edit] External links
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