• the keeper
  • Uncategorized

Peter Marinello (born in Edinburgh on February 20, 1950) is a Scottish former footballer.

Marinello started his career at Hibernian, and could play either as a forward or right winger. He was regarded as being talented enough there that he was dubbed “the next George Best” by the British press. In January 1970 he joined Arsenal for £100,000 (a club record fee and the first time Arsenal had paid a six-figure sum for a player) and he scored on his debut, against Manchester United at Old Trafford on January 10, 1970.

However after that his career quickly took a downturn, a combination of homesickness, his celebrity lifestyle and heavy drinking and a knee injury led to a dip in form which meant he was left out of Arsenal’s first team; he did not take part in Arsenal’s Inter-Cities Fairs Cup triumph of 1970 and only played three matches in their 1970-71 Double-winning campaign. Unable to break into the first team consistently in his Arsenal career, he only played eight league matches in 1971-72 and thirteen in 1972-73; he eventually left Arsenal in July 1973 for Portsmouth after failing to agree a new contract. In total he played 51 matches for Arsenal, scoring five goals.

He later played for Motherwell, Fulham, Phoenix Inferno, Heart of Midlothian and Partick Thistle. Though he retired a wealthy man, a failed business venture left him bankrupt in 1994, and he suffered a nervous breakdown. He now lives in Bournemouth, West Sussex.

Peters european debut, on as a sub vs Leeds



- -