Mark Fish

{{About|the South African footballer|the television writer|Mark Fish (writer)|the American composer|Mark Fish (composer)}}

{{Infobox football biography

| name = Mark Fish

| image = Mark Fish.jpg

| caption = Fish playing for Charlton Athletic in 2004

| fullname = Mark Anthony Fish{{Hugman|6416|accessdate=5 March 2021}}

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1974|3|14|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Cape Town, South Africa

| height = {{Height|m=1.87}}{{NFT player|6129|access-date=5 March 2021}}

| position = Defender

| youthyears1 =

| youthclubs1 = Arcadia Shepherds

| years1 = 1991–1993

| years2 = 1993–1996

| years3 = 1996–1997

| years4 = 1997–2000

| years5 = 2000–2005

| years6 = 2005

| years7 = 2007

| years8 =

| clubs1 = Jomo Cosmos

| clubs2 = Orlando Pirates

| clubs3 = Lazio

| clubs4 = Bolton Wanderers

| clubs5 = Charlton Athletic

| clubs6 = → Ipswich Town (loan)

| clubs7 = Jomo Cosmos

| caps1 = 55

| caps2 = 110

| caps3 = 15

| caps4 = 103

| caps5 = 102

| caps6 = 1

| caps7 = 0

| totalcaps = 386

| goals1 = 3

| goals2 = 11

| goals3 = 1

| goals4 = 3

| goals5 = 3

| goals6 = 0

| goals7 = 0

| totalgoals = 21

| nationalyears1 = 1993–2004

| nationalteam1 = South Africa

| nationalcaps1 = 62

| nationalgoals1 = 2

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalCountry | {{RSA}} }}

}}

Mark Anthony Fish (born 14 March 1974) is a South African former professional footballer who played as a defender.

Club career

Born in Cape Town, 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 8 cup in 1994, the 1995 1995 African Champions League and the 1995 Bob Save Super Bowl (then the premier cup in South Africa). He captained The Buccaneers when they beat JS Kabylie in the 1996 CAF Super Cup.[http://www.kickoff.com/news/37231/orlando-pirates-1995-caf-champions-league Orlando Pirates 1995 CAF Champions League]

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 Andy 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 short loan spell 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

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.

Personal life

In August 2008, Fish's wife and his son were at their Pretoria home with friends when five armed men robbed their house.{{cite web|url=http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20080823090334536C133023|title=Soccer star robbed, son threatened|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150109085719/http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/soccer-star-robbed-son-threatened-1.413574#.VK-X99LP1hE|archive-date=9 January 2015}}

Career statistics

=International=

National team	Year	Apps
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" \|+ Appearances and goals by national team and year
rowspan="9"\|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
colspan="2"\|Total	62	2

:Scores and results list South Africa's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Fish goal.

class="wikitable sortable" \|+ List of international goals scored by Mark Fish
scope="col"\|No. !scope="col"\|Date !scope="col"\|Venue !scope="col"\|Opponent !scope="col"\|Score !scope="col"\|Result !scope="col"\|Competition !scope="col" class="unsortable"\|{{Abbr\|Ref.\|References}}
align="center"\|1 \|{{dts\|27 January 1996}} \|FNB Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa \|{{fb\|Algeria}} \|align="center"\|1–0 \|align="center"\|2–1 \|1996 African Cup of Nations \|{{Cite web \|title=South Africa v Algeria, 27 January 1996 \|url=https://www.11v11.com/matches/south-africa-v-algeria-27-january-1996-246276/ \|access-date=5 March 2021 \|website=11v11.com \|publisher=AFS Enterprises}}
align="center"\|2 \|{{dts\|15 June 1996}} \|FNB Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa \|{{fb\|Malawi\|1964}} \|align="center"\|2–0 \|align="center"\|3–0 \|1998 FIFA World Cup qualification \|{{Cite web \|title=South Africa v Malawi, 15 June 1996 \|url=https://www.11v11.com/matches/south-africa-v-malawi-15-june-1996-246618/ \|access-date=5 March 2021 \|website=11v11.com \|publisher=AFS Enterprises}}

class="wikitable sortable"

|+ List of international goals scored by Mark Fish

scope="col"|No.

!scope="col"|Date

!scope="col"|Venue

!scope="col"|Opponent

!scope="col"|Score

!scope="col"|Result

!scope="col"|Competition

!scope="col" class="unsortable"|{{Abbr|Ref.|References}}

align="center"|1

|{{dts|27 January 1996}}

|FNB Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa

|{{fb|Algeria}}

|align="center"|1–0

|align="center"|2–1

|1996 African Cup of Nations

|{{Cite web |title=South Africa v Algeria, 27 January 1996 |url=https://www.11v11.com/matches/south-africa-v-algeria-27-january-1996-246276/ |access-date=5 March 2021 |website=11v11.com |publisher=AFS Enterprises}}

align="center"|2

|{{dts|15 June 1996}}

|FNB Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa

|{{fb|Malawi|1964}}

|align="center"|2–0

|align="center"|3–0

|1998 FIFA World Cup qualification

|{{Cite web |title=South Africa v Malawi, 15 June 1996 |url=https://www.11v11.com/matches/south-africa-v-malawi-15-june-1996-246618/ |access-date=5 March 2021 |website=11v11.com |publisher=AFS Enterprises}}