Marcus Gayle

Brentford

Born Hammersmith, London, Gayle started his career at Brentford in 1988, scoring 27 goals in 194 appearances for the Bees. He was loaned to KuPS in 1990, before becoming a regular player in the Brentford side under new manager Phil Holder in 1990–91, when the Bees qualified for the playoffs but lost to eventual promotion winners Tranmere Rovers in the semi-finals. He played 33 games in the Third Division that season, scoring six goals. He was a key part in their Third Division title success for the 1991–92 season, scoring 6 goals in 38 games to give Brentford a place in the new First Division, as the old Second Division would be known from the start of the 1992–93 campaign due to the creation of the FA Premier League. The 1992–93 season looked as though it would be a successful one for the Bees, who entered the new year in 10th place and on the brink of the playoff zone, with all the talk at Griffin Park being about a second successive promotion and top division football for the first time since 1947. However, a collapse in the second half of the season saw the Bees relegated. Gayle initially remained loyal to the Bees, but on 24 March 1994 he linked up with his old Brentford striker partner Gary Blissett in a £250,000 move to Wimbledon, who were in the process of finishing a creditable sixth place in the Premier League. In May 2015, Gayle was inducted into the Brentford Hall of Fame.

Wimbledon

Gayle played an influential part during the nineties,…

Gayle was born in England to a Jamaican father and Barbadian mother. He was capped by England at U18 level but later decided to switch allegiance and play for Jamaica who he was eligible to represent through his father. When a player at Wimbledon, Gayle signed a contract in June 1997 with a clause that restricted him to only represent England at international level. Horace Reid of the Jamaica Football Federation complained to FIFA about the restriction and the FIFA Player Status Committee refused to recognise the clause and allowed Gayle to change allegiance to Jamaica in January 1998. Gayle was capped 14 times for Jamaica and played at the 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup in United States and the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France, Jamaica's first ever World Cup finals. He played in the final group H match against Japan which Jamaica won by 2–1. Gayle was made captain the following year against Canada and held that honour for a year before retiring.

AFC Wimbledon

He announced his retirement from competitive football after AFC Wimbledon sealed promotion to the Conference South following a 2–1 Isthmian League Premier play-off final victory over Staines Town. He is presently working towards his coaching badges and in September 2008 took the role of AFC Wimbledon reserve team manager. In his first year of taking over he guided his talented squad to two cup finals, winning the suburban league challenge cup and runners up in the suburban challenge shield in 2009. Runners up in the league came in 2010. In 2011, his reserves collected the league trophy for the very first time and also the champions cup, very unlucky not to pick up the treble after losing to South Park in the Suburban Premier Cup. Marcus is a member of the Wimbledon Old Players Association and has played for Wimbledon's Masters side and Old Players XI.

Staines Town

On 15 May 2012, it was announced that Marcus had been appointed as first team manager of Staines Town. In his first season as manager he guided his young team to safety in the Conference South Division whilst picking up the Middlesex Senior Cup, the 10th time Staines Town have won the competition. The second season brought an impressive 8th-place finish (Highest in club history) and reaching the 1st round proper of the FA Cup vs Brentford. December 2014 Marcus was relieved of his duties due to a bad run of games.

In 2015 Marcus graduated from the EBM (Effective Board Member) course sponsored by the PFA and was later appointed a Board Member for Berkshire & Buckinghamshire FA. In January 2020, he was appointed club ambassador at Brentford. Until 2010, Gayle owned a designer clothes shop in Fulham, London called 3 Tribes.