Marlon King

At 44 years old, Marlon King has this physical status:

Marlon Francis King (born 26 April 1980) is a former professional footballer who competed as a striker. He was born and raised in south London and spent his time with Dulwich Hamlet in non-League football.

He appeared for Barnet, Gillingham, Leeds United, and Nottingham Forest before moving to Watford in 2005.

At Watford, he was the Football League Championship top scorer and was voted Watford player of the season as the club gained promotion to the Premier League.

King joined Wigan Athletic in 2008 and spent time on loan at Hull City and Middlesbrough.

Following his release from jail, he joined Coventry City in September 2010 and made 29 appearances for the club before controversially moving to Birmingham City in June 2011.

He made 79 appearances for Birmingham before suffering a series of injuries during the 2012–13 season, which prevented him from playing again, prompting his release from the club in August 2013.

King has also played and scored for the Jamaican national team. King has served three prison sentences, as well as other criminal charges including stealing from a person and from a car, criminal injury, and seeking to obtain a vehicle by deception; unlawful use of a vehicle licence document, speeding, drink driving; and two cases involving young women protesting his advances in London's Soho district.

After being found guilty of the sexual harassment charges and sentenced to eighteen months in jail, King had his playing contract terminated by Wigan.

Personal life

The king is married to Julie, a former Miss Zambian, and has three children.

King was reportedly headbutted colleague Dean Windass in a Scarborough casino while on loan to Hull City. Hull City said that the matter had been dealt with internally, and that both players stayed with the club. Windass described the event as a "storm in a teacup" later.

King had been convicted of 14 criminal charges as of October 2009. He was fined, driving prohibitions, community service licenses, and orders to pay compensation for offences including: kidnapping from a person and from a car, criminal charge, speeding, and drunk driving in Soho, London; a wounding occurrence while playing amateur football; and two cases involving young women protesting his advances.

In three cases, the accused were sentenced to prison. In May 2002, he was sentenced to eighteen months in jail for stealing stolen cars in connection with a BMW convertible that he was discovered driving, but was not guilty of a charge of assaulting a police officer in a similar lawsuit. "His name will be tarnished forever," his solicitor said, "Because he does succeed, he'll always be remembered as someone with a criminal history, which is a big punishment." Gillingham continued to pay his salary while serving in prison and encouraged in his appeal, which resulted in the prison term being reduced to nine months, with King returning to the Gillingham team within two days of his release.

King was arrested in December 2008 on suspicion of punching a 20-year-old female university student in the chest, resulting in a broken nose and split lip for which she was treated in hospital. He was later found guilty of sexual assault and assault occasioning real bodily harm, and he was sentenced to 18 months in jail and seven years on the Sex Offender Register. Wigan Athletic sparked the cancellation of his deal straight away. Tony Finnigan, the King's agent, said he was positive that his client would find a club on his release and accused the Professional Footballers' Union (PFA) of failing to provide assistance. The PFA did not represent players if they had violated the rules and been indicted on non-footballing charges, according to Gordon Taylor, the PFA's chief executive. If approached, it would help members with anger management or other issues, but no attempt had been made by the King. Following his release, King denied an appeal, which was unsuccessful.

In April 2013, King was arrested and bailed once more following a car accident that left one man critically injured, and in July of the same year, he was arrested in connection with a hit-and-run crash that left two men wounded. King pleaded not guilty' to the first event in November of the same year in November, but a trial date was set for March 2014. King of Torksey, Lincolnshire, was sentenced to 18 months in jail and barred from driving for three years on May 15, 2014.

Following his release from jail, King and his family escaped to Zambia.

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Club career

Before being a trainee at Barnet, the King began his career at Dulwich Hamlet. After making 60 first team appearances for Barnet, he moved to Gillingham in 2000.

In 2003, the King left Priestfield to join Nottingham Forest for £950,000. In 57 games, he has scored 15 goals. He struggled to beat the fans at Nottingham Forest before scoring an injury-time winning goal against West Ham United, the first since Brian Clough's death.

In March 2005, King was loaned to Leeds United for the remainder of the 2004–05 season. Whilst coaching Leeds, boss Kevin Blackwell mainly played King out of place on the wing, and as a result, King failed to score a single goal against Leicester City, despite missing a penalty kick. He played nine games for Leeds and then returned to Nottingham Forest in the summer of 2005 after his loan contract ended.

King was loaned to Watford for six months in the summer of 2005, with the option to buy in the January transfer window. He played for Watford in the upper reaches of the table, scoring 12 goals in 21 games. In a 3–3 draw against Plymouth Argyle on August 9, King scored his first goal for the Hornets, then followed this up with two goals at Cardiff City in his next match.

The move was made permanent for £500,000 in January, and King went on to finish as the top scorer in the 2005–06 Championship with 21 goals. Watford came third, with King scoring in the 3–0 semi-final victory over Crystal Palace, whose queen took third place. He appeared in the second leg and in the final against Leeds United, who beat Watford 3–0 to gain promotion to the FA Premier League. King was named as the club's Player of the Season by the club's Player of the Season.

In the second game of the new season, King scored his first Premier League goal against West Ham United. This was his second Premier League goal, the first in a 3–3 draw with Fulham on October 2nd, marking his 100th goal in domestic play. He sustained a knee injury while playing away from Arsenal, preventing him from participating in the next three games. He suffered a relapse during his return to action, and it was discovered that some bone had flaked away from his femur during an exploratory procedure. He was out of action for six months, and he did not return until April 14, 2007, when he came on as a substitute in the 4–1 FA Cup semi-final loss to Manchester United at Villa Park. In the final two games of the season, he scored away from Reading and at home against Newcastle United, bringing his total score to four.

For the 2007-08 season, Watford was relegated and relegated to the Championship. King scored ten goals in the first half of the season, five in consecutive games in October, with Watford top the table for the first half of the season.

Fulham's medical staff in January 2008, a medical at a Fulham hospital, which Fulham denied at the time. Fulham chief Roy Hodgson said "I think we were lucky in that we didn't sign him" following King's release in October 2009. The medical problem was there, but finding out he had been sentenced to prison made it even more difficult. Mohamed Al Fayed was not keen on the news, so the transfer was allowed to fail and he went to Wigan instead." On January 25, 2008, he signed for Wigan Athletic on a three-and-a-half-year deal for an undisclosed fee. According to Watford chairman Graham Simpson, King had left for a fee of £3 million, dependent on appearances and Wigan's keeping their Premier League status, and it was reported that King doubled his salary to £40,000 per week. On March 22, King scored his first and what turned out to be his only goal for Wigan over Blackburn Rovers.

Hull City, one of the Premier League's newcomers, paid King an undisclosed sum, which Wigan accepted. The King had signed personal terms with him, but the deal fell through because he was unable to negotiate the terms of his separation from Wigan. Hull took King on a season-long loan instead. On September 13, he scored his first goal for City, a penalty, against Newcastle United, who won the match 2–1. After being told he was not in the starting lineup for a match against Arsenal, King's loan to Hull was cut short, and he was sent home rather than taking his place among the substitutes.

On January 22, 2009, King's loan contract with Hull came to an end, and he signed a Middlesbrough loan agreement. On January 28, he made his Chelsea debut against Chelsea. On March 14th against Portsmouth, he scored his first goal for Middlesbrough. In a victory for the Teessiders, King scored a goal against Hull on 11 April. However, the season came to an end with Middlesbrough's relegation from the Premier League. After his loan spell came to an end, the King returned to Wigan in the summer of 2009. He mainly found himself on the bench for Roberto Martnez's team. Following his arrest and sentencing for sexual assault, he was fired in October 2009.

After being released from jail former manager Aidy Boothroyd, the King was given the opportunity to train with Coventry City to regain his fitness. After impressing during preparation, King and Coventry City became involved in lengthy labor talks that took almost two months to resolve. On September 20, 2010, King signed a one-year contract. King converted the penalty spot from the penalty spot to win the game against Middlesbrough on December 4th, and finished the season as the club's top scorer with 13 goals. He was also named Player of the Year.

King was reported to have verbally agreed a new contract with the club with his Coventry contract coming to an end. However, he decided to play in the Europa League on June 10, 2011, citing the opportunity to play in the Europa League as a major factor in his decision. Bosman's free transfer was completed on July 1st. The chairman and boss of Coventry felt "trayed" by the player's behavior.

In pre-season training, he sustained knee ligament damage, which postponed his Birmingham debut until September 11, when he appeared in the final half of a 3–0 home win over Millwall. King scored his first goal in European competition on his first day for Birmingham in the Europa League group stage and his first League goal for the club on October 16th, a penalty to open the scoring in a 2–0 victory over Leicester City. Birmingham reached the play-off semi-finals last season, with 18 goals and 12 assists.

After Birmingham lost 3–0 down after 19 minutes away to Millwall in October 2012, King scored his first senior hat-trick of his career to bring a draw. This was the start of a scoring streak of nine goals in as many games, culminating in Birmingham's 3–2 victory over third-placed Middlesbrough in December, in which King was fouled for and converted a penalty right before halftime to level the scores, and then went for a through ball by Peter L'venkrands to score the late winner. Although a bid from Shanghai Shenhua was turned down in February, it was rejected in February. However, his season came to an end in March due to a long-term knee injury that required surgery. Marlon King will be leaving Birmingham on August 28, 2013, after his deal was terminated by mutual consent in order to reduce the club's wage bill.

In September 2013, King signed a deal with Sheffield United to stay with the League One club for the remainder of the season, having been initially refused by the club. He scored his first goal for his new club in a 1–1 draw with Crawley Town at Bramall Lane on his debut in a 1–0 home loss to Preston North End. Following the arrival of new King Nigel Clough in December 2013, the King quickly fell out of favour, and after a brief stint on the sidelines due to a knee injury he was released in December 2013.

International career

King also played a key role in Jamaica's unsuccessful attempt to qualify for the 2006 World Cup in 2004, scoring six goals in eight games. In the friendly against Ghana on May 29, 2006, he played for Jamaica, who lost 4–1. He was named in the squad to face England in a friendly on June 3, but was dismissed due to a suspected misconduct of discipline. Jamaica lost the match 6–0.

The Jamaican Football Federation suspended King David from international football as a result of the incident in May 2008. Captain Horace Burrell returned to JFF president as the JFF president, he lifted the ban. In February 2008, King served in Jamaica's 1-1 draw with Costa Rica, where he gave Jamaica's goal the cross. In the absence of Ricardo Gardner due to injury, King also played for Jamaica in a friendly against Trinidad and Tobago, scoring a goal and captaining the team.

King made his first appearance for Jamaica since 2009 as a second-half substitute in a 1–0 friendly loss to Panama on May 27, 2012, and he returned to play in the upcoming game as a replacement. He and Chris Humphrey were banned from the next two World Cup qualifiers for breaking curfew. After the suspension, he was not selected again, and he announced his retirement from international football in November 2012. He had scored 12 goals in 22 of his senior international appearances. Winfried Schäfer, the new coach after Theodore Whitmore's departure, welcomed King to the team for the World Cup qualifiers in September 2013.

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