Leeds United Nostalgia: Rocastle sadly never lived up to his billing

That David Rocastle is included is testament to how highly he is thought of there. Featured alongside the likes of Cliff Bastin, Thierry Henry and Charlie George, his image is as proud as any other, Arsenal’s permanent tribute to a man who died in tragic circumstances at the age of just 33.

Across his seven years at Arsenal, Rocastle scored 34 goals in 228 games, collecting two league titles and a winner’s medal in the League Cup along the way.

A lesser-told story is that of the midfielder’s career outside of North London. To Leeds fans, ‘Rocky’ will be remembered as the man Howard Wilkinson broke the club record transfer fee for, a man whose spell at the club was, in the minds of many, all too brief.

His time at Elland Road looks puzzling on paper. An expensive signing, he arrived as a 25-year-old England international, and United hoped he was the long-term replacement for Gordon Strachan as the champions sought to win the first Premiership title.

It ended 25 years ago this week when he made the move to Manchester City, Leeds recouping the £2million fee they had paid for him only 16 months before.

The cross-Pennines transfer was essentially a swap deal for David White, who too went on to suffer a stuttering injury-laden spell in West Yorkshire.

His spell with the Whites wasn’t helped by the nature of his arrival. It was no secret that Rocastle would have preferred to remain at his boyhood club, with Arsenal manager George Graham attracting critics as to his handling of the transfer.

Speaking of the move, close friend and Arsenal team-mate Paul Davis later said: “He cried. We spoke about it quite often.

“He couldn’t understand why they ever wanted him to go.

“The club’s line was that he was injured, he was struggling with his weight, he’d had a knee operation.

“I don’t think he ever recovered from the fact of leaving Arsenal in his own mind.”

A combination of that post-Arsenal grief and a lack of fitness saw Rocastle fail to usurp Strachan.

Wilkinson time and again placed his trust in the ageing Scot, who went on to play another two seasons for the club.

Many Leeds fans would have liked to see the manager place more faith in the all-action midfielder.

He was a popular figure 0n the terraces, with glimpses of his outstanding technical ability shining through in spite of repeated injury problems.

On his day, of which there were many, Rocastle was a player beyond his years. Relaxed on the ball and able to control the tempo a match, with an eye for the killer pass, one feels that his talents would have been even more greatly appreciated in the modern game.

As it fell, his career faded away, transferring to Chelsea after just one season at Maine Road. Loan moves to second-tier Norwich and fourth-tier Hull preceded a move to Malaysian football.

Citing a weariness connected to repeated injury problems, he retired in 1999 aged just 31.

This was no great tragedy compared to what was to become.

Having contracted an aggressive form of cancer known as non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Rocastle died in the early hours of 31 March 2001 aged just 33.

He was survived by his wife Janet, son Ryan and daughters Melissa and Monique.

His death was felt throughout the football community, most forcefully at Arsenal.

To many Leeds fans, the tragic story of David Rocastle delivers a devastating thought of what might have been.