This article is about the South African footballer. For the television writer, see Mark Fish (writer). For the American composer, see Mark Fish (composer).
Born in Cape Town,[1] Fish started his career in his native South Africa under the guidance of renowned coach Steve Coetsee, playing for Arcadia Shepherds, an amateur team based at the Caledonian Stadium in Pretoria. He was spotted by then Jomo Cosmos coach Roy Matthews and turned professional as a striker. It was at Cosmos that he was converted into a left back and went on to become one of the most promising defenders in South Africa at the time.
In 1994 Fish was signed by Orlando Pirates after Cosmos were relegated. At Pirates he arguably played the best football of his career under the tutelage of Mike Makaab. He also won the league championship at Pirates, as well as the BP Top Eight Cup in 1994, the 1995 1995 African Champions League and the 1995 Bobsave Super Bowl (then the premier cup in South Africa). He captained The Buccaneers when they beat JS Kabylie in the 1996 CAF Super Cup.[3] In the same year he was part of the history making South African national team that won the African Cup of Nations at the first attempt after South Africa's readmission to FIFA in 1992.
Soon foreign scouts came knocking and he was signed by Lazio of Italy, after he turned down an opportunity to play for his boyhood club, Manchester United. However, he did move to England after just one season at Lazio to become the highest paid player at Bolton Wanderers. Fish was a mainstay in Bolton's back four for much of their first season back in the Premiership, he received praise from both teammates and those whom he played against, most notably Manchester United forward Andrew Cole. Despite Fish's efforts Bolton were relegated on the last day of the season despite having accumulated 40 points, normally enough to stave off the drop. Once playing back in the lower leagues Fish applied himself well, quickly gaining a cult status amongst the Bolton faithful, backed up by his nickname "Feesh", and a particularly eyecatching headgear in the shape of a giant Blue fish being made available in club stores. However, new suitors soon came calling, and only after the appointment of Sam Allardyce did Fish's star begin to fall in Lancashire. Fish soon followed his Danish teammate Claus Jensen and at Alan Curbishley's second time of asking moved to Charlton Athletic in a £700,000 move in November 2000. "The Big Fish" as he was affectionately known throughout his playing career went on to make 102 Premiership appearances for the Addicks, scoring three times.
In 2005, he began to fall out of favour at Charlton. He went on to have a very short loan spell (45 mins) at Ipswich Town in the 2005–06 season but a severe cruciate ligament injury led to Fish announcing his retirement.
Fish returned to football when he signed a six-month contract with his first club Jomo Cosmos in early 2007 but did not play an official game due to his low level of fitness.
International careeredit
Internationally, Fish is best remembered as being a crucial part of South Africa's victorious national soccer squad when they won the 1996 African Cup of Nations. He scored one of the goals in the quarter final against Algeria. He was named to the Team of the Tournament in both the 1996 and 1998 African Cup of Nations. In total he won 62 caps for the South African national team, scoring twice.
He made his international debut in a friendly game against Mexico on 6 October 1993 and received his last cap in a World Cup qualifier against Ghana on 20 June 2004.
Career statisticsedit
Internationaledit
Appearances and goals by national team and year[2]
In August 2008 Fish's wife and his son were at their Pretoria home with friends when five armed men robbed their house. Fish has also expressed interest in having his own football club.[6]
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This article is about the South African footballer For the television writer see Mark Fish writer For the American composer see Mark Fish composer This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page especially if potentially libelous Find sources Mark Fish news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2013 Learn how and when to remove this message Mark Anthony Fish born 14 March 1974 is a retired South African footballer who played as a defender Mark FishFish in March 2004Personal informationFull nameMark Anthony Fish 1 Date of birth 1974 03 14 14 March 1974 age 50 Place of birthCape Town South AfricaHeight1 87 m 6 ft 1 1 2 in 2 Position s DefenderYouth careerArcadia ShepherdsSenior career YearsTeamApps Gls 1991 1993Jomo Cosmos55 3 1993 1996Orlando Pirates110 11 1996 1997Lazio15 1 1997 2000Bolton Wanderers103 3 2000 2005Charlton Athletic102 3 2005 Ipswich Town loan 1 0 2007 2011Jomo Cosmos0 0 Total386 21 International career1993 2004South Africa62 2 Medal record Representing South Africa Men s football Africa Cup of Nations Winner 1996 South Africa Runner up 1998 Burkina Faso 2000 Ghana amp Nigeria Club domestic league appearances and goals Contents 1 Club career 2 International career 3 Career statistics 3 1 International 4 Personal life 5 Further reading 6 References 7 External linksClub career editBorn in Cape Town 1 Fish started his career in his native South Africa under the guidance of renowned coach Steve Coetsee playing for Arcadia Shepherds an amateur team based at the Caledonian Stadium in Pretoria He was spotted by then Jomo Cosmos coach Roy Matthews and turned professional as a striker It was at Cosmos that he was converted into a left back and went on to become one of the most promising defenders in South Africa at the time In 1994 Fish was signed by Orlando Pirates after Cosmos were relegated At Pirates he arguably played the best football of his career under the tutelage of Mike Makaab He also won the league championship at Pirates as well as the BP Top Eight Cup in 1994 the 1995 1995 African Champions League and the 1995 Bobsave Super Bowl then the premier cup in South Africa He captained The Buccaneers when they beat JS Kabylie in the 1996 CAF Super Cup 3 In the same year he was part of the history making South African national team that won the African Cup of Nations at the first attempt after South Africa s readmission to FIFA in 1992 Soon foreign scouts came knocking and he was signed by Lazio of Italy after he turned down an opportunity to play for his boyhood club Manchester United However he did move to England after just one season at Lazio to become the highest paid player at Bolton Wanderers Fish was a mainstay in Bolton s back four for much of their first season back in the Premiership he received praise from both teammates and those whom he played against most notably Manchester United forward Andrew Cole Despite Fish s efforts Bolton were relegated on the last day of the season despite having accumulated 40 points normally enough to stave off the drop Once playing back in the lower leagues Fish applied himself well quickly gaining a cult status amongst the Bolton faithful backed up by his nickname Feesh and a particularly eyecatching headgear in the shape of a giant Blue fish being made available in club stores However new suitors soon came calling and only after the appointment of Sam Allardyce did Fish s star begin to fall in Lancashire Fish soon followed his Danish teammate Claus Jensen and at Alan Curbishley s second time of asking moved to Charlton Athletic in a 700 000 move in November 2000 The Big Fish as he was affectionately known throughout his playing career went on to make 102 Premiership appearances for the Addicks scoring three times In 2005 he began to fall out of favour at Charlton He went on to have a very short loan spell 45 mins at Ipswich Town in the 2005 06 season but a severe cruciate ligament injury led to Fish announcing his retirement Fish returned to football when he signed a six month contract with his first club Jomo Cosmos in early 2007 but did not play an official game due to his low level of fitness International career editInternationally Fish is best remembered as being a crucial part of South Africa s victorious national soccer squad when they won the 1996 African Cup of Nations He scored one of the goals in the quarter final against Algeria He was named to the Team of the Tournament in both the 1996 and 1998 African Cup of Nations In total he won 62 caps for the South African national team scoring twice He made his international debut in a friendly game against Mexico on 6 October 1993 and received his last cap in a World Cup qualifier against Ghana on 20 June 2004 Career statistics editInternational edit Appearances and goals by national team and year 2 National team Year Apps Goals South Africa 1993 1 0 1994 6 0 1995 4 0 1996 10 2 1997 10 0 1998 14 0 1999 8 0 2000 7 0 2004 2 0 Total 62 2 Scores and results list South Africa s goal tally first score column indicates score after each Fish goal List of international goals scored by Mark Fish 2 No Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref 1 27 January 1996 FNB Stadium Johannesburg South Africa nbsp Algeria 1 0 2 1 1996 African Cup of Nations 4 2 15 June 1996 FNB Stadium Johannesburg South Africa nbsp Malawi 2 0 3 0 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification 5 Personal life editIn August 2008 Fish s wife and his son were at their Pretoria home with friends when five armed men robbed their house Fish has also expressed interest in having his own football club 6 Further reading editGraeme Friedman Madiba s Boys The Stories of Lucas Radebe and Mark Fish Comerford amp Miller United Kingdom ISBN 9781919888088 Features a foreword by Nelson MandelaReferences edit a b Mark Fish Barry Hugman s Footballers Retrieved 5 March 2021 a b c Mark Fish National Football Teams Benjamin Strack Zimmermann Retrieved 5 March 2021 Orlando Pirates 1995 CAF Champions League South Africa v Algeria 27 January 1996 11v11 com AFS Enterprises Retrieved 5 March 2021 South Africa v Malawi 15 June 1996 11v11 com AFS Enterprises Retrieved 5 March 2021 Soccer star robbed son threatened Archived from the original on 9 January 2015 External links editMark Fish at Soccerbase nbsp Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Mark Fish amp oldid 1218566032, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
