Rocky the King
March 31st arrived again yesterday and with our current woes, every year that passes emphasises why we must all live life to the full. Rocky died of lymphoma which is a cancer of the lymph glands. If it caught early there is a good prognosis. If you suffer repeated colds and flu and the signs of enlarged glands that do not go down after infection or accompanied by aches in the legs, weight loss and night sweats, then I urge you to see your physician. Rocky Rocastle died at the age of 33. He was a true Arsenal legend. For me the use of the term legend is too easily used. Literally the word Legenda comes from the latin “to be read” When applied to a human being, it is the tales that are passed from person to person that tell of the incredible feats achieved by that legendary person.
David Carlyle Rocastle, known as Rocky to his friends, fans and family was a true Icon, a player whose achievements on the field will be remembered by many and celebrated either through anniversaries or dedications as one such Gunner who earned the accolade legend from all those who saw or knew him. His close football skills would equal any of the top footballers of this era, Zinadine Zidane, Cristiano Ronaldo all had skills that Rocky showed his beloved Gooners first. Rocky Rocastle’s memory must live on for as long as there are those who have a sense of Arsenal football history. Rocky was an Arsenal man through and through, and to coin the cliche, if you cut him, he would bleed Red and White. He disliked the Tottenham, and nothing delighted him more than to score goals against them.
One of the greatest goals that he scored against Tottenham was the classic that sent Arsenal through to the 1987 Littlewoods Cup (League Cup) final. Two matches had failed to separate the North London rivals. Spurs had taken a one-nil lead in the first leg at Highbury through Clive Allen, who had scored as usual. The second leg saw Allen again torment the Gunners and have a 2-0 on aggregate advantage. It was said that the Arsenal dressing room were fired up by the White Hart Lane PA announcer, who had informed the home fans at how to obtain tickets for the Wembley final. Viv Anderson and Niall Quinn silenced them to give the Gunners a 2-1 victory and earn us a replay. The final and third match was at White Hart Lane. Clive Allen had again put the home side in front and all seemed at last to be going the their way against this young Arsenal team, with talisman Charlie Nicholas leaving the field through injury.
Sub Ian Allinson gave the Gunners hope when he ran in and latched onto a long ball from Paul Davis and released a shot which beat Ray Clemence at his near post. With only seconds remaining after almost 300 minutes of football. David O’Leary launched a long ball forward which was knocked down by Quinn into the path of sub Allinson on the left. His shot ricocheted off a defender into the path of Rocky near the penalty spot. Rocky controlled the ball with a sublime first touch of his right foot, to take the ball away towards his left to create an angle, and then with a blinding turn of pace took two strides and struck the ball sweet and low as the Tottenham defender slid in to block. The ball disappeared under Clemence into the net. This was followed by outrageous Gooner celebrations leaving the home support to rise en masse and empty the stadium in what seemed like seconds…
Thirteen years on and many Gooners will sing his name, but many will never have witnessed his skills, so courtesy of YouTube, those of you who want to relive Rocky’s finest moments, then enjoy the clips below.
Spurs defeat in Littlewoods cup semi-final 1987
Interviews in tribute to Rocky
Away Boyz song Rocky on Album Redness
R.I.P David ‘Rocky’ Rocastle
Twitter@RTKafc_insider
