IpswichTown

Paul Mariner obituary

11-Jul-2021 15:24:23 | The Guardian

Powerful centre-forward for England and for Ipswich Town’s cup-winning side of the 70s and 80s

The footballer Paul Mariner, who has died aged 68 of brain cancer, was a powerful and athletic centre-forward who won the FA Cup and Uefa Cup with Ipswich Town during a memorable era for the club in the late 1970s and early 80s. He also played 35 times for England between 1977 and 1985, scoring 13 goals.

Strong and wholehearted, he was one of the best British forwards of that time, good with both feet and a classical striker in the old vein, able both to dish out and take physical punishment. But his value to his various teams – which also included Plymouth, Arsenal and Portsmouth – lay as much in his enthusiastic presence as his technical skills. A bubbly personality, he was the life and soul of the party and a popular figure in the dressing room.