DAVIDS WAS MY PERFECT MENTOR
Marsh-Brown hails Non-League royalty
HE may only be 27, but Keanu MarshBrown has had a career of more twists and turns than any Hollywood blockbuster.
From a journey to the Europa League final, his multiple trips to Wembley, managerial feuds, an enduring friendship with one of the world’s greatest ever players and an all-expenses paid trip to Harrods courtesy of maverick owner Mohammad Al-Fayed – the former Forest Green Rovers attacker has already accumulated an extraordinary collection of tales.
“It has been quite a ride!” concludes Marsh-Brown, as he looks out from his apartment in Memphis, Tennessee, where he is turning out for USL side Mephis 901.
The London-born forward has experienced life at the very top and just last summer found himself playing in front of thousands at the CONCACAF Gold Cup for Guyana.
But it is when looking back on his time in Non-League that Marsh-Brown’s raw passion and love for the game truly shines through.
“I remember it like it was yesterday,” he beams. “I walked into the dressing room at Barnet and Edgar Davids was standing right in front of me. The guy who I had spent hours playing as on FIFA and watched on television for years.
Stature
“I didn’t know what to do. I kind of went in for a handshake but he pulled me in and gave me a massive bear hug!” The former Ajax midfielder’s time as player-manager at Barnet during the 2013-14 National League season is the stuff of Non-League folklore and it was while playing under Davids that Marsh-Brown was able to reignite his seemingly stalling career. After being released by Fulham in 2011, short and ultimately unsuccessful stints with Oldham Athletic and Yeovil Town saw MarshBrown return to the comfort of the capital with the Bees, where he enjoyed a prolific campaign under Davids, in what was his first taste of Non-League.
“I owe him a lot because he took me under his wing,” said the former England C international of Davids. “Every bit of advice helped me to flourish and I developed a sense of confidence in my game again. “Playing in the same team as him was absolutely mind-blowing. I remember this one time I scored a pretty good goal in an away game and he came running up to me and just said ‘Wow!’
“It was simply impossible to comprehend someone of that stature being taken aback by something that I had done!”
Unfortunately, Davids’ time at The Hive came to an abrupt end in January 2014 and for Marsh-Brown, memories of the next man to enter the dugout are far less savoury.
“Ultimately Martin Allen came in and things completely ground to a halt for me.”
Despite finishing among the league’s top goal scorers, Marsh-Brown found himself cut adrift from the first team picture the following season as Barnet reportedly looked to offload their once prized asset.
“It was he most frustrating time of my career.,” he said. “I was absolutely loving life and suddenly everything came crashing down. There was some boardroom politics but I never got a proper explanation of what was going on. By the time Forest Green came in for me that summer I was just glad to be out of there.”
Tenacity
It was in Gloucestershire, under the guidance of Ady Pennock, that Marsh-Brown’s career underwent its second resurrection.
“Put simply, Ady Pennock allowed me to fall in love with football again,” Marsh-Brown admits after helping Rovers fulfil their Football League dream with a play-off final victory over Tranmere.
“It’s funny how things work out. Going to Forest Green turned out to be the absolute best thing that could have happened to me.”
All good things, however, come to an end and after a brief loan spell at Dover Athletic, Marsh-Brown was shipped off to Newport County. But upon reporting back for pre-season training in 2018, Marsh-Brown once again found himself harshly deemed surplus to requirements by the powers that be.
But out of darkness comes light and a surprise phone call from former Manchester United goalkeeper Tim Howard before Christmas kickstarted the latest juncture in Marsh-Brown’s journey.
An American adventure with Memphis 901, where Howard is a member of the club’s ownership group, Trinity Sports Holdings, provided an escape route from an enduring Welsh nightmare.
Don’t expect Marsh-Brown to ride off into the sunset just yet though, when speaking to him, his desire and tenacity to make it in the game is still abundantly clear and you can guarantee the latter pages of his story will deliver more riveting chapters, whether in America or closer to home.
Who knows, one day we may even see him terrorising defenders in Non-League again. In fact, another club in Trinity Sports Holdings’ portfolio is our very own Dagenham & Redbridge!