| Peter Marinello | |
| Fullname: | Peter Marinello |
| Birth Date: | 20 February 1950 |
| Birth Place: | Edinburgh, Scotland |
| Position: | Forward |
| Youthclubs1: | Salvesen's Boys Club |
| Years1: | 1968–1970 |
| Caps1: | 45 |
| Goals1: | 5 |
| Clubs1: | Hibernian |
| Years2: | 1970–1973 |
| Caps2: | 38 |
| Goals2: | 3 |
| Clubs2: | Arsenal |
| Years3: | 1973–1975 |
| Caps3: | 95 |
| Goals3: | 7 |
| Clubs3: | Portsmouth |
| Years4: | 1975–1978 |
| Caps4: | 89 |
| Goals4: | 12 |
| Clubs4: | Motherwell |
| Years5: | 1978 |
| Caps5: | 11 |
| Goals5: | 1 |
| Clubs5: | → Canberra City (loan) |
| Years6: | 1978–1980 |
| Caps6: | 27 |
| Goals6: | 1 |
| Clubs6: | Fulham |
| Years7: | 1980–1981 |
| Caps7: | 25 |
| Goals7: | 17 |
| Clubs7: | Phoenix Inferno |
| Years8: | 1981–1983 |
| Caps8: | 22 |
| Goals8: | 3 |
| Clubs8: | Heart of Midlothian |
| Years9: | 1983–1984 |
| Caps9: | 6 |
| Goals9: | 0 |
| Clubs9: | Partick Thistle |
| Clubs10: | Broxburn Athletic |
| Nationalyears1: | 1969–1970 |
| Nationalteam1: | Scotland U23[1] |
| Nationalcaps1: | 2 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 0 |
| Nationalyears2: | 1978[2] |
| Nationalteam2: | Scottish League XI |
| Nationalcaps2: | 1 |
| Nationalgoals2: | 0 |
Peter Marinello (born 20 February 1950) is a Scottish former footballer.
Marinello started his career at Hibernian,[3] and could play either as a centre forward or right winger. He was regarded as being talented enough there that he was dubbed "the next George Best" by the British press.[4] [5] [6]
In January 1970, a month before his 20th birthday, he joined Arsenal for £100,000, a club record fee at the time. The acquisition of Marinello also marked the first time that Arsenal had paid a six-figure sum for a player. He went on to score on his debut against Manchester United at Old Trafford on 10 January 1970.[7] [6] However, a combination of a newly adopted 'celebrity party lifestyle' and a knee injury led to a dip in his footballing form[5] [6] and meant that he was not a regular in the team: he was not part of the squad for the final of Arsenal's Inter-Cities Fairs Cup triumph of 1970,[6] but he contributed four appearances during the run, including the semi-final first leg against Ajax.[8] He only played three matches in their 1970–71 Double-winning campaign. He subsequently played eight league matches in 1971–72 and thirteen in 1972–73. In total he played 51 matches for Arsenal, scoring 5 goals. Marinello left Arsenal in July 1973 after failing to agree a new contract.
He next played for Portsmouth followed by Motherwell,[9] Canberra City, Fulham, Phoenix Inferno, Heart of Midlothian[10] and Partick Thistle.[5] [6]
Though he retired a wealthy man, a failed business venture left him bankrupt in 1994.[11] [6] He now runs an amateur football club and lives in Bournemouth, Dorset.[12] He released an autobiography, Fallen Idle, in 2007.[5]