Big interview: Chris Marsh’s memories of 13 glorious years at Walsall

He was a mainstay at the Bescot Stadium from the late 1980s until he left the club in 2001 and his time with the Saddlers was anything but mundane.

At the age of 17 he made his debut for the club in the 1987/88 season and although he didn’t play regularly that year, the club won the play-offs and were promoted to the old Division Two – now the Championship – under the guidance of manager Tommy Coakley.

“I was signed as a schoolboy at 14 and then at 16 the club had the option to take me on,” Marsh said. “After my two years I had offers from Coventry, Aston Villa and Walsall to be an apprentice.

“I took the option at Walsall because I did think I’d have a better chance of making the first team, which was proven as I made my debut at 17.

“Alan Buckley signed me as an apprentice and within a few months he was gone and Tommy Coakley came in.

“David Kelly never had a look-in with Alan and then Tommy comes in and plays him and he scores the goals to get us promoted. Tommy was good like that and was good to me too.

“He gave me a chance, he would always play young lads if he thought they were good enough.

“I came off the bench in my debut for Nicky Cross who had scored a hat-trick – so that didn’t go down well.

“I came on and in 20 or 30 seconds I scored and it was ruled out for offside – that was tough.

“I got some sub appearances that season and made my full debut against West Brom the next season, which is ironic because I’d supported them as a kid and my granddad played for them in the 1930s.

“It was 0-0 that day but what an experience.”

After experiencing the highs of promotion in his first taste of professional football, reality soon hit hard for the defender.

Walsall suffered two successive relegations in 1988/89 and 1989/90 – finishing bottom of the table on both occasions, catapulting them from Division Two to Division Four – now known as League Two.

“I was 18 in Division Two as it was then and we were going away to some big stadiums and I thought ‘this is the business, I could get used to this’,” Marsh added.

“Then after two seasons we were down to the fourth division, as a kid that was tough. Taking abuse off your own fans was hard, but I get it because we were terrible. It stood me in good stead but I wouldn’t advise it for anyone, it was horrible. It moulded me as a player and as a person.”

After some managerial changes, the start to life in the fourth tier in the 1990/91 season saw Walsall bring in Kenny Hibbitt as the new boss.

In his four years in charge, Walsall made the play-offs once but failed to earn promotion – coming mid-table in the other three years.

The only notable change was the division being renamed as Division Three when the Premier League was formed and broke away from the Football League in 1992 – but Marsh insists that Hibbitt’s tenure was essential to the club’s later success.

“Kenny came in and steadied the ship, he was a lovely man, but working until really tough conditions with no money,” he said. “No budget, no players, I felt for him – we got in the play-offs one year too which was a miracle.

“He did better than people expected him too, 100 per cent.

“He’s a great man who got the best out of us – a great coach but I felt sorry for him under the circumstances.”

Then, Chris Nicholl took over as manager for the 1994/95 season and secured promotion at the first attempt, coming runners-up in the league.

Just like former team-mate and goalkeeper Jimmy Walker, Marsh was also full of praise for Nicholl.

“It was a different style under Chris, he was a very hard man but fair,” Marsh added. “We went up in his first season – he was the best manager I ever played under.

“He got the best out of me and I got 12 goals from the wing in one season, we were a brilliant team.

“Any player who played under him and said they weren’t scared of him, they’re lying.

“He had the ultimate respect – you could argue with him, but at the end he’d shake your hand and you’d know there was no underlying issue there.

“Jimmy (Walker) had a fight with him in the changing room once – but there’s only one winner there.

“We had some good players under Chris, a great team that he gelled together with a good style of play.” After a year with Jan Sorensen in charge, Ray Graydon took the helm and earned legendary status among the Walsall faithful for the years that followed.

In his first campaign in the 1998/99 season, despite Walsall being favourites for relegation, his side came second and picked up automatic promotion to the second tier.

Marsh scored against Oldham in a 3-1 win on May 1, 1999, to secure the promotion and for him it was nothing short of a ‘miracle’.

“Ray set his stall out quickly,” he said. “We had to turn up to training in a full suit, clean shaven and no swearing – it was regimented.

“Some lads weren’t so sure about it, but as we went on we played a great style of football and that first season we went up will never be repeated in Walsall’s history.

“We went on tour to Scotland in pre-season and we only had 10 outfield players and Jimmy (Walker) played out on the wing.

“We were favourites to go down but after getting a few more players in, and beating Gillingham in the first game of the season, it snowballed from there.

“Keegan had all the money at Fulham, Man City were there too and we went straight up.

“We were a bunch of honest grafters that would work for each other and through that it shows what teamwork can do, it was a miracle.

“It came down to that fateful day at Oldham and I’m really proud of that goal I scored.

“We beat them 3-1 and the best thing was that we needed to win to go up and we didn’t want it to drag on to the next game against Fulham, we wanted it finished there and then.

“To go and do it, and for me to score, was some day – unbelievable.”

Walsall were relegated in their first season back in Division One before Graydon masterminded an immediate return through the play-offs in 2001.

Marsh, however, left the club in March of that year and didn’t complete the season – moving to Wycombe Wanderers.

“We were rebuilding the following season and Ian Brightwell comes in, which is fair enough as I was picking up little injuries and it was probably my time to go,” he said. “I wasn’t going to play and Lawrie Sanchez came in for me at Wycombe.

“I jumped ship and had a great time there with good lads, and I liked Sanchez, but maybe I should have stayed and waited until the summer.

“They played hoofball at Wycombe, it was dreadful and after that season I did not fit into his style of play.

“I had a couple of run-ins with Sanchez and then Kevin Wilson came in for me at Northampton and I went.

“I don’t regret my time at Wycombe, I enjoyed it there, but the style of play never suited me. I could have been there 10 years and I was never going to get into the team.

“My time at Northampton was good and after two years it was time to say goodbye and retire.”

In the end, Marsh played for Walsall more than 470 times over 13 years with the club and although plenty of opportunities came up for him to leave, he insists it was an ‘honour’ to represent the Saddlers for so long.

“Liverpool came in for me when I was around 22, Graeme Souness wanted to buy me,” he said. “I got injured and they told me to come back from it and they would still take me – then I had a cartilage operation and they were still committed to buying me.

“By the time I got fit, Souness got sacked and the move got shelved.

“That would have been a nice move, to pit myself against those calibre of players. I don’t know if I would have been good enough but I would have liked to try.

“That would be my only disappointment, that the big move didn’t materialise.

“I could have moved a couple of times, I almost went to Luton in 1995 after they put a bid in but Walsall rejected it.

“I had 13 years at Walsall and I loved every minute of it. To say I played just shy of 500 games, I’m very proud of that.

“My time at Walsall was great and it was an honour to stay with the club.”

With his final words on the club, Marsh chose to praise the Independent Saddlers Supporters’ Association for their work in the community and looking after Marsh’s former manager Nicholl, who has dementia.

“The situation with Chris Nicholl is sad with his illness and everyone has a lot of love for him,” he said.

“I’m in a Whattsapp group with ex-players and we’re always concerned about him, but ISSA do quite a bit for him, taking him to games and everything, and they deserve a shoutout.

“The work they do is brilliant and they’ve also been raising money for the club which is superb.

“It proves how much love there is for the gaffer when fans do this for him and they deserve a mention for their work.”