Sabah can be considered the club with the closest affinity to English Premier League giants, Arsenal. That is simply because of the teams in Malaysia, the Rhinos is the only one who have had former Gunners on their books, not just one but two.
Rhys Weston was briefly with Sabah in the 2012 season but it was his predecessor in David Rocastle who simply made a bigger impression because the latter’s colourful success in English football compared to the former who only made one senior appearance for Arsenal.
Rocastle arrived in Malaysia in 1999 when he was 32 years old having already featured for Leeds United, Manchester City and Chelsea on top of coming through the ranks at Arsenal. He sadly lost his life due to cancer just two years after his Malaysian adventure but remains fondly remembered in Sabah.
One of those who not only played with Rocastle in that 1999 season but go to know the man who grew up in south east London. Jelius is now the head coach of Sabah and he speaks to Goal about the man from Arsenal from 21 years ago.
“Before he came, we already heard rumours that he will be joining. We knew that David was a former Arsenal and Leeds United player but not more than that because it was a different time compared to the internet-age that we are in right now. Some of the boys obviously knew more than me because they followed the English league!
“We only had one season with him but he was someone who was extremely professional. We had other import players before him but he was the first to arrive with such a high-profile. The way he speaks, the way he mixed around during training and in matches was top notch.
“In training, he takes the effort to help, guide and motivate the younger players. Because the game in England was physical, he showed that in training as well. Yet, the harder stuff was left to the actual competitive matches where he really showed how strong he was,” said Jelius.
Rocastle won two English Championships (the top tier league before it was rebranded as Premier League) in the 1988/89 and 1990/91 season with Arsenal where he became a firm favourite among the crowd at Highbury. Even till this day at the Emirates Stadium, ‘Rocky’ still gets his song sung fervently by Arsenal fans occasionally.
One of Arsenal’s greats Ian Wright is often asked to talk about his childhood friend who ended up playing in the same Premier League as him, and one of the major characteristics often spoken about was Rocastle’s humble personality. A trait which continued to shine even though he had come from the Premier League to Malaysian football.
Having already experienced the professional way clubs handle things from the pitch to travel to training grounds, it must have been a shock for Rocastle to see what was in store for him in Malaysia but such is his remarkable upbringing that he just took everything in his stride and carried on to be the ultimate professional.
“He wasn’t one who was talkative but it didn’t come across to us as a form of arrogance. It was just his character. Compared to the other import players who came from lower leagues than him, he supported and respected us more than what the others did.
“There was once that the team had to do a centralised training outside of Kota Kinabalu when we had to go to a plantation and he followed us there the entire two weeks. The plantation had a pitch, hall and hostel inside but of course it wasn’t a five star accommodation, and he still did not make a single complaint.
“We went around in Land Rovers, ate at the plantation manager’s home. David joined in with the rest with no special treatment and did not ask for any. He was a great footballer but more than that, he was an incredible human being.
“When he played for us, he had trouble with his ankle, which we knew of course. But he did not let that bother him in games. Still trained well and played well. We weren’t aware of his health problems and it was sad to find out about the news,” explained Jelius.
That 1999 season, Rocastle played a huge role in helping Sabah reach the FA Cup final, a feat which the Rhinos have not been able to repeat since. It was a brief but special year when Malaysian football was graced by one of the game’s greatest humans.
