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Fullname: David Marshall
Born: 5 March 1985
Birthplace: Glasgow
Signed: 1 Aug 2000
Left: 4 July 2007
Position: Goalkeeper
Debut: Celtic 3-0 St Johnstone, Scottish Cup, 23 Feb 2003
Internationals: Scotland
International Caps: 47 Caps (2 Caps whilst with Celtic)
International Shut-outs: 0
Summary
Played possibly the greatest performance of his life against Barcelona to give the greatest goalkeeping display ever for Celtic in the UEFA Cup in 2004, 2004-03-25: Barcelona 0-0 Celtic, UEFA Cup
Left Celtic July 2007 [BBC]
Biog
Great goalkeepers are hard to find, and Celtic have suffered more than most over the years. With the possible exception of Paddy Bonner in his early years (and many still debate about his ability) few pre-Artur Boruc can really honestly recall Celtic having had a great goalie since Ronnie Simpson’s departure. Celtic had Shay Given on the books but Lou Macari turned him away (poor decision) before he had even had a full competitive match for Celtic to show his worth.
Anyhow, this is what Marshall had to step into, and literally so. During the first game of the two legs in the UEFA cup v Barcelona in 2004, the then regular goalkeeper (Rab Douglas) ended up being wrongly sent off due to a stramash in the tunnel at half-time, and into his place a young David Marshall stepped in, and what a big game that was to begin with. The whole event was a blessing, with young David Marshall even wonderfully saving a penalty from none other than the then best player in the world (Ronaldinho), and he even kept a clean sheet.
That was 45mins, but 90mins more at least awaited at the Nou Camp with various commentators expecting Barca to storm through, but young David Marshall gave what can only be described as a phenomenal performance. He saved shots from the feet of the opposition players, made every dive possibly fearlessly for the ball and so on. He was just incredible and rightly was given a royal round of applause when he made it back to the dressing room. Along with John Kennedy, they were the toast of the Celtic support. The review of the game and the quotes say it all (Link).
Amazingly, prior to the Barcelona games his only senior games were for Celtic against St Johnstone (sub in Scottish Cup game) and against Partick Thistle (league cup).
It was though a lot to live up to. The early promise did continue with some fine performances but too many fickle Celtic supporters weren’t finding it easy to give him the necessary time to develop, and with a shoddy defence in front of him, his lack of experience didn’t give him the time to mature and become the player he could be. There were also too many conceded goals but he needed time to learn and grow in his position. A change of managers along with MoN’s last difficult season meant that David Marshall didn’t have stability at the club to help him out.
Still he had many good games but a few poor games for Scotland and then some mixed performances for Celtic (culminating in the Artemdia drubbing away to fling Celtic out the Champions League at the qualifying stage) shattered his confidence. Most other players would have been able to have a short break and then be able to come back but Celtic had bought Artur Boruc who was too difficult to displace for David Marshall, and a loan move to Norwich led on to a full transfer.
The team management did have high hopes for David Marshall at the club for the long-term, but wasn’t to be. Just wasn’t the time to help him bed in, especially with Artur Boruc now on board. In a strange sense, he got his big opportunity through good luck (i.e. Rab Douglas’ sending off in the UEFA Cup) and then lost his opportunity through bad luck (i.e. Boruc’s arrival and surprise success).
It’s a difficult one but sadly he’d had the no.1 spot taken from under him, and you can sympathise. However, he’d had his chance and had taken it very well. An irony that after so many years of underwhelming keepers at Celtic, that Celtic had now two great developing keepers at the one time, and in this case David Marshall had to step aside for Artur Boruc.
David Marshall is forever immortalised from those UEFA cup games v Barcelona from 2004, and many others would be very happy with that. The support will remember him for those matches very fondly.
Post-Celtic
Down south having impressed at Norwich, after their relegation from the top tier, he subsequently moved onto Cardiff City also in the second tier and helped them in time to the second tier title. In the top tier, David Marshall made a very good name for himself and was highly rated, however he sadly didn’t get a transfer to a larger club as his talents deserved. He later moved onto Hull City, Wigan Athletic, Derby County and QPR before returning up north to play for Hibernian.
His first match return to Celtic Park for Hibs in goals was one to forget in a 6-1 drubbing!
He was to be a regular with the Scotland national side, switching with others such as Craig Gordon for the no.1 role. Scotland were underachieving or even just dreadful through much of this era, but after a couple of false dawns and a long wait Scotland turned things around with Marshall to finally became a national hero in unexpected circumstances. During the coronavirus pandemic, Euros 2020 was delayed by a year with qualifiers still to be played. Scotland had by this time not qualified for a major international tournament for 22 years, which was humiliating, but a place through the backdoors via the playoffs to reach the competition was a chance at least.
However, Scotland had to play Serbia away in an empty stadium in a one-leg match. Taking in the quality of the Serbia side, as well as recent history, Scotland were the underdogs. Yet, Scotland were to make history and finally qualify after a 1-1 draw (goal by Celtic player Christie), followed by penalties in which David Marshall saved the final penalty by the Serbian for Scotland to win 5-4 on penalties. At the age of 35, it was a great moment for him and he deserved all the praise in the world.
Earlier that year in the summer he was a possibility to return to Celtic, but as he later admitted, there wasn’t much progress in that move, and Celtic opted for Barkas from Greece (which turned into a big mistake).
David Marshall had a mixed Euro 2020 with the national side, played in 2021 due to Covid, and became the butt of social media jokes after conceding a calamitous goal in the opening 2-0 defeat to Czech Rep. He actually had some good form in the competition, but it was asking a lot, and despite a great 0-0 draw v England at Wembley, Scotland were out at the group stages once again.
He retired from play in June 2024 after a long playing career, and moved into coaching with Hibernian.
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Playing Career
| APPEARANCES (subs) |
LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 2000-07 | 34 (1) | 3 (1) | 2 (0) | 8 (1) | 47 (3) |
| Shut-outs |
Honours with Celtic
Scottish Premier League: 1
Scottish Cup: 2