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Arsenal manager George Graham's decision to sell David Rocastle to Leeds
in the summer of 1992 was met with shock by the Highbury faithful but
it had begun to look like an inspired piece of judgement by the time the
stylish right-midfielder joined Chelsea. A disappointing 16 months at
Elland Road was followed by half a season with Manchester City before
Glenn Hoddle swooped to take Rocastle back to his native London for a
fee of £1, 250, 000 just prior to the start of the 1994/95 season. His
debut came in a 2-0 victory over Norwich City on the opening day of the
campaign and as he settled into a fine rhythm on Chelsea's right-flank,
it appeared that he was finding the form which had so patently eluded
him at his two previous clubs. He opened his goalscoring account with a
superb strike in a 4-2 European Cup Winners Cup victory over Czech side
Viktoria Zizkov, chipping the ball over the Zizkov keeper who had left
himself stranded with a poor clearance. Another fine strike followed to
clinch a 1-0 League Cup win over Bournemouth but it became noticeable
that David was struggling to maintain the required pace throughout a
full ninety minutes and although he made a perfectly acceptable 36
starts in all competitions for Chelsea throughout the campaign, he was
staggeringly substituted in two thirds of those games.
His experience
did, however, prove invaluable throughout a ECWC run which ended for the
Blues at the semi-final stage, and David's performance on the left of
midfield on a memorable night when a 1-0 deficit against FC Bruges was
overturned to send Chelsea through to the final four was probably his
finest hour and a bit (he was inevitably substituted late on) for the
club. Sadly, the decline in the former England man's career gathered
pace and despite spending a further three seasons at Stamford Bridge, he
would only figure in one more game for the club, a 3-0 defeat at
Blackburn in October 1995. Loan spells with Norwich and Hull City
followed before he eventually left Chelsea to ply his trade in Malaysia
in May 1998. From his position on the sidelines he had witnessed the
transformation of a club battling against relegation to one that had
lifted three trophies in his last two seasons with them.
However, there
was devastating news around the corner. In January 2001 it was announced
that David was battling non-Hodgkins lymphoma. As his many admirers
around the country digested the news and came to terms with the reasons
behind his fitness difficulties in recent seasons, a further
announcement came just two months later that the 33-year-old married
father of three had passed away. Many tributes followed from football
insiders for the amiable, ever-smiling Rocastle and on the day that his
passing was announced, Gianfranco Zola dedicated a goal to the memory of
a man who, despite no longer being actively involved in the Chelsea
first-team, had gone out of his way to help the little Sardinian settle
into London life. (Kelvin Barker).
1984–1992 Arsenal 228 (23)
1992–1993 Leeds United 25 (2)
1993–1994 Manchester City 21 (2)
1994–1998 Chelsea 29 (0)
1997 Norwich City (loan) 11 (0)
1997 Hull City (loan) 11 (1)
1999 Sabah 13 (8)
National team.
1986–1988 England U21 14 (2)
1988–1992 England 14 (0
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