Biography

Winger and striker Brian Marwood was one of an elite group of players that went on to greater things after cutting their teeth in the Hull City squad assembled in the early 1980s by manager Mike Smith. Born in Seaham Harbour on the Durham Coast, Marwood was an apprentice at City from the age of 16 and signed professional terms in February 1978, but despite his promise he was not used manager Ken Houghton. When Smith took over the City helm in January 1980 he immediately introduced Marwood to the first team, handing Brian his debut against Mansfield Town in a midfield role. Used intermittently for the remainder of the season, Marwood was reintroduced to first team action in October 1980 at the tail end of a terrible winless streak. Marwood scored his first goal for the Tigers in November 1980 during a 3-1 win at Millwall that briefly halted the slump and remained a first team pick for the rest of the 1980/81 season that ended in the club’s financial collapse and relegation under the temporary charge of Bobby Brown and Chris Chilton.
Marwood was now established as City’s right winger and for the next three seasons he was a near ever present as the Tigers went through administration, rebuilt under Colin Appleton and won promotion back to Division Three. Brian was pivotal to this rise, scoring 12 league goals in Appleton’s first season of consolidation (the Tigers finished 8th in Division Four) and 19 goals in the subsequent promotion season. In the 1983/84 season City swept up the Division Three table with Marwood scoring another 16 league goals. But the Tigers stumbled at the very last hurdle, needing a 3-0 victory at Burnley to secure promotion and only winning 2-0 – Marwood scored both. Within a few weeks Appleton had left for Swansea City and Marwood was sold for a handsome £115,000 fee.
In June 1984 Marwood signed for newly promoted Division One side Sheffield Wednesday, working under the guiding hand of manager Howard Wilkinson. He debuted for the Owls in August 1984 against Nottingham Forest and netted his first goal for the club two weeks later against Tottenham Hotspur. For four seasons at Hillsborough Marwood was a first team fixture. In the 1985/86 season the Owls finished 5th in Division One and reached the FA Cup semi-finals, though Marwood missed the semi-final against Everton played at Villa Park – Marwood was joint top goalscorer in the League with centre forward Lee Chapman, a duo that made a fearsome strike force across the top flight. He continued to serve the Owls for two further seasons and left the club in March 1988 having scored 35 goals in 161 senior appearances.
In March 1988 Division One rivals Arsenal paid a £800,000 fee for Marwood, the Gunners were top six contenders and League Cup finalists, though Marwood was cup-tied for the Wembley final that was lost 2-3 to Luton Town. Marwood was an immediate success, combining with Arsenal target man Alan Smith in the same way he had complemented Lee Chapman at Hillsborough. The Gunners won the Division One title in the 1988/89 season with Smith scoring 25 league goals and Marwood chipping in with nine more – Marwood scored in seven of the opening eight matches that season in all competitions. Injury meant Marwood missed the last five league games of the season, including the tumultuous 2-0 win over Liverpool that sealed the title with the last kick of the season. Five years after his night of black and amber disappointment at Burnley, a 2-0 end of season win was finally enough for Marwood to taste real success, albeit from the sidelines. Injuries dogged Marwood throughout the 1989/90 season and he was replaced in the first team at the end of the season by Swedish winger Anders Limpar. By the 1990 close season Marwood has scored 19 goals in 64 senior appearances for Arsenal.
He moved to Division One side Sheffield United in September 1990 for a £350,000 fee – a less than popular move amongst the Wednesday fans that once cheered him on at Hillsborough. In two and a half seasons Marwood only managed 27 appearances and three goals for the Blades and was loaned to Middlesbrough in October 1991, where he made 5 appearances. He joined League Division 1 contenders Swindon Town in March 1993 and scored once in 11 appearances, but five months later he moved to League Division 2 side Barnet where he added 29 appearances. He hung up his playing boots in the 1994 close season having scored 111 goals in 488 senior appearances.

In 1990 Marwood was elected Chairman of the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA). He fulfilled that role until 1993, then became a regular TV and radio pundit and worked in sports marketing for Nike. In 2009 Marwood was appointed a senior football administrator at Manchester City and was an important part of the backroom staff that saw the Citizens dominate the Premier League during the 2010s. By 2019 Marwood was the Managing Director of Global Football for City Football Group, focussed on overseeing the many teams across the world that were associated with Manchester City as a parent club.
In November 1988, during the height of his form at Arsenal, Marwood made his solitary England senior appearance in a friendly in Riyadh against Saudi Arabia, playing only nine minutes as a substitute to become England 1,011th debutant.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 2 May 1960, Seaham Harbour
Hull City First Game: 12 January 1980, Mansfield Town H (Division Three), 19 years, 341 days old
Hull City Final Game: 24 May 1984, Bournemouth H (Associate Members’ Cup Final), 24 years, 109 days old
Clubs
Hull City (1978-1984), Sheffield Wednesday (1984-1988), Arsenal (1988-1990), Sheffield United (1990-1992), Middlesbrough (1992, loan), Swindon Town (1992-1993), Barnet (1993-1994)
Hull City Record
Career: 191 apps, 53 goals
Brian MarwoodSeason | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1977/78 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
1978/79 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
1979/80 | 4 (2) | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
1980/81 | 31 (0) | 4 | 6 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | – | – | 2 (0) | 0 |
1981/82 | 40 (2) | 12 | 6 (0) | 1 | 0 (1) | 0 | – | – | 2 (0) | 0 |
1982/83 | 40 (0) | 19 | 2 (0) | 0 | 1 (0) | 0 | – | – | 3 (0) | 1 |
1983/84 | 39 (0) | 16 | 2 (0) | 0 | 2 (0) | 0 | – | – | 5 (0) | 0 |
Hello folks. I think Marwood should have played many more games for England, in my view. A talented, pacy winger, who could shoot with both feet.