Peter Marinello was a teenage sensation that burst onto the scene with Hibernian. Born in Edinburgh in February 1950 he almost enjoyed some cup glory early in his career at Easter Road when he played in the 1969 League Cup Final, but his side crashed to a 6-2 defeat at the hands of Celtic.
In January 1970 just one month before his 20th birthday, Arsenal paid out a fee of £100,000 to secure his services, a club record fee for the Gunners at the same time it was their first six figure fee spent on any player. On the top of his game, Peter was an impressive winger, he made a great impression on his debut when he scored against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Despite the bright start to his career, Peter would ultimately stutter at Highbury, mainly due to a combination of the high expectations due to being compared to ‘George Best’, homesickness, the celebrity lifestyle and finally a knee injury which would see him drift out of the side and struggle to regain a starting berth on a consistent basis. He missed out on the 1970 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and only made a handful of appearances during the 1970/71 double win. After failing to agree on a new contract in 1973 he headed further south to join Portsmouth.
At Fratton Park, Peter would eventually play under former ‘Well favourite Ian St John who left the Motherwell managers post to join Pompey as club chairman John Deacon tempted him away with the promise of a massive transfer kitty. As it transpired all was not well and the club ended up in a financial crisis which would see all saleable assets such as Marinello moving on.
Motherwell boss Willie McLean had been pursing Ayr United’s Johnny Doyle but when the move was scuppered he made a move for Peter. The club offered a £35,000 fee which was accepted and he headed back north to join the Steelmen.
Peter was certainly a dazzling winger who showed some great creativity and tremendous skill. He was an exciting player to watch even more so when he linked up well with forwards Willie Pettigrew and Bobby Graham.
As time wore on Roger Hynd was appointed manager in 1978, he had his own ideas on how the side should play. Going forward he introduced a side with a greater emphasis on defending rather then the route McLean took with his attacking approach.
Peter was eventually loaned out to Australian outfit Canberra City for six months, initially he had a move to America lined up but frustratingly for the player this fell through.
By the time another new manager was appointed, Ally MacLeod the former Scotland gaffer wanted to stamp his own proceedings on how the side should play and it didn’t involve Marinello as he was subsequently sold to Fulham and the player made a return to London. Over the next few years a number of issues led him to play for numerous clubs over a six year period as his career started to fizzle out – Phoenix Inferno, Hearts and finally Partick Thistle would all enjoy the wingers services.
Marinello was selected for many Scotland squads but would never win a full cap despite appearing on the bench on a few occasions, he did however get some international recognition at U23 level as well as representing the Scottish League XI on a solitary occasion.
Ultimately, Peter was a player that should have delivered so much more in his career than he did. In 2007 he released his autobiography which details his football career as well as his turbulent personal life.
Name:
|
Peter Marinello |
Height:
|
5′ 9″ |
Weight:
|
11st |
Date of Birth:
|
20th February 1950 |
Place of Birth:
|
Edinburgh |
Position:
|
Winger |
Nationality:
|
Scottish |
Football Career:
Hibernian | 1967 | 1969 |
Arsenal | 1969 | 1973 |
Portsmouth | 1973 | 1975 |
Motherwell | 1975 | 1978 |
Canberra City (Loan) | 1978 | |
Fulham | 1978 | 1980 |
Phoenix Inferno | 1980 | |
Hearts | 1981 | 1983 |
Partick Thistle | 1983 | 1984 |
Well Career:
Apps | Goals | |
League:
|
77 (12) | 12 |
Scottish Cup:
|
9 (2) | 5 |
League Cup:
|
8 (2) | 3 |
Other:
|
7 | 1 |
Total:
|
101 (16) | 21 |