Paul Mariner

1970s

Mariner started his career as an amateur player at non-league club Chorley, close to his Lancashire roots and his style at the helm of their attack caught the attention of Plymouth Argyle, for whom he signed in 1973. So began an impressive scoring record with the Devon club, with 56 goals in 135 appearances coming before Bobby Robson, who had been personally monitoring Mariner's progress, took him to Ipswich Town for a club record £220,000 with John Peddelty and Terry Austin moving in the opposite direction as part of the deal. Mariner chose Ipswich ahead of similar offers from West Bromwich Albion and West Ham United. Mariner made his debut in September 1976 and quickly settled into the Ipswich side as an old-fashioned number 9 – i.e., a forward capable of taking hard tackles and rough treatment from defenders but willing to give it back, while also scoring a fair share of goals. Received wisdom suggests that Mariner was only a 'target-man'-type centre forward but he scored plenty of goals with his feet and had the skill to create his own chances on the deck, rather than relying entirely on service through the centre and via the flanks. Such was Mariner's impact that six months after joining Ipswich, he made his England debut as a substitute in a 5–0 win over Luxembourg at Wembley and played from the beginning in the following game against Northern Ireland in the British Home Championship at Windsor Park, Belfast. He impressed in both games, though did not…

Early career

After retiring, Mariner worked as a football pundit for BBC Radio Lancashire for their Friday-night Non-League Hour before setting up a management company for footballers. After a spell back in England coaching at Bolton School, he returned to the States to coach youth football at S.C. Del Sol in Phoenix, Arizona. In 2003, he became an assistant coach at Harvard University. In 2004, he was hired by the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer as assistant coach to former Liverpool and Scotland defender Steve Nicol. He was officially announced by the club on 5 February 2004. He was interviewed by MLS expansion side Seattle Sounders FC for their head coach role prior to their inaugural season in 2009.

Plymouth Argyle

Speculation about his future was rife in October 2009 when he was linked with a coaching position at one of his former clubs, Plymouth Argyle, abetted by his visit to Devon to promote the city's 2018 World Cup bid and his subsequent resignation on 17 October. It was announced the following day, 18 October 2009, that he was to become the new head coach of Plymouth Argyle, with Paul Sturrock staying on as team manager. On 10 December 2009, Mariner replaced Sturrock as manager of Plymouth Argyle, following a run of poor form which left the Pilgrims second bottom in the Championship. He was unable to keep Plymouth up, however, and they were relegated from the Football league Championship after a six-year stay, on 19 April 2010. On 6…

After his playing days ended in 1993, Mariner worked briefly as a commentator with BBC Radio Lancashire. In 2014, after his brief coaching stint in Toronto, Mariner returned to the New England Revolution as a broadcaster, providing colour commentary for the team's television and radio broadcasts for six full seasons. He also worked as an analyst for ESPN broadcasts between 2009 and 2020.

Mariner was born in Farnworth, near Bolton on 22 May 1953, the son of James Mariner, a crane driver, and Margaret Catherine Mariner, née Turnbull, and was baptised two months later at St Catherine's Church, Horwich on 19 July 1953. He lived with his parents in Autumn Street, Horwich, and went to Horwich County Secondary School (now the lower school of Rivington and Blackrod High School). He married Alison Roscoe in Plymouth, Devon in 1976, and they had three sons. They eventually divorced in 1989. Mariner died of brain cancer on 9 July 2021, at the age of 68.