Ben Marshall left Wolverhampton Wanderers in the summer of 2018 to join Norwich City, but his time at Carrow Road didn’t go to plan and he surprisingly ended up signing for Stoneclough FC in January – a side in the 12th tier of English football.
The 28-year-old saw out the last six months of his Norwich career on loan at Millwall before being released that summer, so how did a Championship player end up in the West Lancashire League Division One just months later?
Marshall initially joined Wolves from Blackburn Rovers in 2017 – the ninth club of his professional career. The midfielder made 25 appearances in all competitions, scoring two goals and making four assists before his departure.
At Norwich, Marshall only made six appearances and spent the majority of his campaign as an unused substitute or out of the matchday squad. He spent much of his second season on loan at Millwall before having his contract terminated by mutual consent upon his return.
Marshall had been keeping fit with the amateur outfit back in October but didn’t sign for them until January. Before the season was cancelled for non-league clubs after the spread of Covid-19 pandemic, Stoneclough were sitting second in the First Division with 41 points from 24 games, having won 13 times. They’ll now see their efforts in the league expunged.
Whether Marshall will stick around for next season remains to be seen, however, as he must surely be angling for a return to professional football. He was a regular for Stoneclough before the pandemic spread and has a lot of time to weigh up his options ahead of the 2020/21 campaign.
