Speaking on the Undr The Cosh Podcast, former Blackburn Rovers and Norwich City man Ben Marshall has revealed he wanted to sign for Sheffield Wednesday in the 2011/12 season before joining Leicester City.
Midfielder Ben Marshall has been out of the professional game since the summer of 2019.
He was released by Norwich City and has recently been playing for non-league outfit Stoneclough FC.
Marshall’s Stoke City departure
Now 29, Marshall started out in Stoke City’s youth academy. He came through the Potters’ youth academy and picked up senior experience out on loan.
Marshall – valued at just over £1m – left the Potters in January 2012, joining Leicester City after a short stint on loan with Sheffield Wednesday.
Now, the former Norwich City man has revealed he wanted to make a permanent move to Hillsborough.
“I was adamant”
Speaking on the Undr the Cost podcast, Marshall has revealed his desire to sign for the Owls. He scored five goals and laid on six assists in 22 appearances for the club in his stint on loan.
However, he ended up being sold to Leicester, revealing then Wednesday boss Gary Megson’s persistence in the chase for Marshall was one of the reasons behind his sacking.
Here’s what he had to say:
“I had six months left on my contract and, in my eyes, I wanted to sign for Sheffield Wednesday. I was pushing and pushing and [Gary] Megson was pushing and I think I heard it was one of the reasons he got sacked.
“He was that adamant and they just didn’t put a bid in. Then Leicester came in with a £1m bid in the Championship.
“Leicester were offering a lot more wages but I was adamant I wanted to sign for Sheffield Wednesday.
“I said to my agent when they accepted the bid off Leicester, can you not just ring Sheffield Wednesday and ask if they can match it?
“They would have accepted £500k. [Tony] Pulis sat me down and said ‘where do you want to go?’. I said I wanted to go to Sheffield Wednesday and the day after that was it.”
Marshall’s career after joining Leicester
In his time with the Foxes, Marshall went on to play 61 times for the club before leaving to join Blackburn Rovers.
With Blackburn, Marshall scored 15 goals and laid on 12 assists in 140 games. He most recently played for Norwich City but played just six times for the Canaries before his release.
