Marcus Gayle
Personal information
Full name	Marcus Gayle
Date of birth	27 September 1970 (1970-09-27) (age 39)
Place of birth	Hammersmith, England
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Playing position	Defender, Midfielder, Striker
Club information
Current club	AFC Wimbledon (reserve team manager)
Senior career1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1989–1994 1990 1994–2001 2001 2001–2005 2005–2006 2006–2007 2007–2008	Brentford → KuPS (loan) Wimbledon Rangers Watford Brentford Aldershot Town AFC Wimbledon	156 (22) 022 0(9) 236 (37) 004 0(0) 102 0(5) 030 0(2) 024 0(7) 029 0(3)
National team
1998–2002	Jamaica	014 0(3)
Teams managed
2008–	AFC Wimbledon Reserves
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Marcus Gayle (born 27 September 1970 in Hammersmith, London) is the current manager of AFC Wimbledon's reserve team and a former professional footballer. An English born Jamaican, Gayle could play as a striker or winger, though towards the end of his career he also played as a central defender.

[edit] Club career

Gayle started his career at Brentford in 1989, scoring 26 goals in 193 appearances for the Bees. He was loaned to KuPS in 1990. In 1994 Gayle moved to Wimbledon on transfer deadline day and then made his home and league debut against Leeds United the following day in a 1–0 win. He was part of their successful Premiership side and is probably most well remembered for his winning header in a 1–0 FA Cup victory over defending champions Manchester United in 1997.^{[original research?]} His performances in the Premiership earned him a call up to the Jamaica national team and he was included in their squad for the 1998 World Cup, along with fellow Wimbledon midfielder Robbie Earle. In January 2001 he was sold to Rangers for £1,000,000. He only made four appearances for the club, and was allowed to move to Gianluca Vialli's new-look Watford side for £900,000 in the summer of that year.

He was expected to leave, along with most of Vialli's other unsuccessful signings, in the summer of 2002. However, he re-emerged as a centre-back under new manager Ray Lewington, and won the Player of the Season award that year. He also scored in the club's 2–1 defeat to Southampton in the FA Cup semi-finals. Another good season followed in 2003–04, but injury plagued his 2004–05, and he left Watford two days after the sacking of Lewington in March 2005.

He re-joined Brentford, his first club and made 37 appearances for the Bees. Gayle was released from his Brentford contract on 17 May 2006 and signed for Aldershot Town on 2 July 2006. He scored the first hat-trick of his career for the Shots on 14 October 2006, coming on as a second-half substitute to score three times against Kidderminster Harriers.^[1] He was released by Aldershot at the end of 2006–07 season, after spending much time of his time with the club out of action with injury. He was signed for AFC Wimbledon in May 2007 by former Aldershot manager Terry Brown, making him only the second player to play competitively for both AFC Wimbledon and the old Wimbledon FC (the first being Jermaine Darlington)^[2] and, after scoring against Maidenhead United in the FA Trophy,^[3] becoming the only player to have scored for both incarnations of the South West London club.

[edit] International career

Gayle was capped 14 times for Jamaica and played at the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France.

[edit] Managerial career

He announced his retirement from competitive football after AFC Wimbledon sealed promotion to the Conference South following a 2–1 Ryman League Premier play-off final victory over Staines Town.^[4][5] He is presently working towards his coaching badges and in September 2008 took the role of AFC Wimbledon reserve team manager.^[6] Marcus is a member of the Wimbledon Old Players Association and has played for Wimbledon's Masters side and Old Players XI.^[5]

[edit] Away from football

Gayle owns a designer clothes shop on the Fulham Road in London, called 3 Tribes.^[7]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Marcus Gayle career stats at Soccerbase

v • d • e Jamaica squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup 1 Barrett • 2 Malcolm • 3 Dawes • 4 Dixon • 5 Goodison • 6 Simpson • 7 Cargill • 8 Gayle • 9 Williams • 10 Boyd • 11 Whitmore • 12 Sewell • 13 Lawrence • 14 Ricketts • 15 Gardner • 16 Earle • 17 Lowe • 18 Burton • 19 Sinclair • 20 Powell • 21 Brown • 22 Hall • Coach: Simões