Keith Cassells

Keith Barrington Cassells (born 10 July 1957) is an English retired professional football forward, best remembered for his four seasons in the Football League with Mansfield Town. He also played league football for Watford, Oxford United, Brentford and briefly in the First Division for Southampton. He acquired the nickname "Rosie" during his playing career.[3]

Keith Cassells
Personal information
Full name Keith Barrington Cassells[1]
Date of birth (1957-07-10) 10 July 1957
Place of birth Islington, England
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[2]
Position(s) Forward, right winger
Youth career
0000–1977 Wembley
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1977–1980 Watford 12 (0)
1980 → Peterborough United (loan) 8 (0)
1980–1982 Oxford United 45 (13)
1982–1983 Southampton 19 (4)
1983–1985 Brentford 86 (28)
1985–1989 Mansfield Town 163 (52)
Total 333 (97)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Early years

A forward, Cassells began his career at Isthmian League club Wembley, before joining Fourth Division club Watford for a £500 fee in October 1977.[4] A double promotion from the Fourth to the Second Division hampered Cassells' chances at Vicarage Road and he made just 17 appearances before his departure in November 1980.[4][5]

Oxford United and Southampton

In November 1980, Cassells dropped back down to the Third Division to join Oxford United as the makeweight in the deal which saw Les Taylor join Watford for a £100,000 fee.[4] He scored 25 goals in 60 matches,[6] before making a surprise move to First Division club Southampton for an £80,000 fee in March 1982.[4] At the end of the 1981–82 season, he was named in the Third Division PFA Team of the Year.[7] Cassells failed to make a breakthrough at The Dell and made just 27 appearances and scored five goals before leaving the club in February 1983.[5][8]

Brentford

Cassells dropped back down to the Third Division to join Brentford for a £25,000 fee in February 1983.[3] Signed as a replacement for the injured Tony Mahoney, over the following 2½ seasons he proved himself to be "a powerful-running frontman" and "a consistent, if unspectacular goalscorer".[9] A switch to the right wing during the 1984–85 season saw Cassells finish the season as the team's leading league goalscorer (12) and the team's joint-leading goalscorer (18, with Gary Roberts).[9] He also helped the team to the 1985 Football League Trophy Final and the match proved to be his final Brentford appearance.[3] After rejecting a new contract, Cassells departed Griffin Park in August 1985 and finished his Bees career with 102 appearances and 28 goals.[3][9]

Mansfield Town

Cassells joined Fourth Division club Mansfield Town for a £17,000 fee in August 1985.[9] He had an excellent 1985–86 season, scoring a hat-trick on his debut and helping the club secure promotion to the Third Division with a third-place finish.[5][10] He experienced more success in the following season, winning the 1987 Football League Trophy Final, despite missing a penalty in the deciding shootout.[11] His career was ended by injury in 1989,[5] by which time he had made 163 league appearances and scored 52 goals for the Stags.[1]

Personal life

Before becoming a professional footballer, Cassells worked as a postman.[9] After his retirement from football in 1989, he joined the Hertfordshire Constabulary and rose to the rank of detective sergeant.[4][12] He was awarded the Police Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in 2011.[13]

Honours
Mansfield Town

Individual

Career statistics
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Watford 1978–79[14] Third Division 3 0 2 0 2 0 — — 7 0
1979–80[14] Second Division 7 0 0 0 0 0 — — 7 0
1980–81[15] 2 0 — 1 0 — — 3 0
Total 12 0 2 0 3 0 — — 17 0
Peterborough United (loan) 1979–80[16] Fourth Division 8 0 — — — — 8 0
Oxford United 1980–81[6] Third Division 18 3 2 0 — — — 20 3
1981–82[6] 27 10 6 7 4 4 — 3[lower-alpha 1] 1 40 22
Total 45 13 8 7 4 4 — 3 1 60 25
Southampton 1981–82[8] First Division 6 2 — — 0 0 — 6 2
1982–83[8] 13 2 1 0 5 1 2[lower-alpha 2] 0 — 21 3
Total 19 4 1 0 5 1 2 0 — 27 5
Brentford 1982–83[17] Third Division 16 7 — — — — 16 7
1983–84[17] 30 9 1 1 2 0 — 2[lower-alpha 3] 0 35 10
1984–85[17] 40 12 4 4 2 0 — 5[lower-alpha 3] 2 51 18
Total 86 28 5 5 4 0 — 7 2 102 28
Mansfield Town 1985–86[4] Fourth Division 40 13 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 40 13
1986–87[4] Third Division 46 16 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 46 16
1987–88[4] 40 9 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 40 9
1988–89[4] 37 14 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 37 14
Total 163 52 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 163 52
Career total 333 97 17 12 16 5 2 0 10 3 378 117
  1. Appearances in Football League Group Cup
  2. Appearances in UEFA Cup
  3. Appearances in Football League Trophy

References
  1. "Keith Cassells". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  2. Keith Cassells at WorldFootball.net
  3. Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Harefield: Yore Publications. p. 35. ISBN 978-0955294914.
  4. "Watford Football Club archive 1881–2017 – Players – Burgess to Chung" (PDF). Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  5. "Keith Cassells – Profile of the English Footballer". Archived from the original on 4 February 2013. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  6. "Rage Online » AdHoc". www.rageonline.co.uk. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  7. Lynch, Tony (1995). The Official P.F.A. Footballers Heroes. Random House. p. 144. ISBN 0-09-179135-9.
  8. "Keith Cassells". 11v11.com. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  9. Croxford, Mark; Lane, David; Waterman, Greville (2011). The Big Brentford Book of the Eighties. Sunbury, Middlesex: Legends Publishing. p. 342. ISBN 978-1906796716.
  10. "PLAYER RECORDS". Retrieved 15 December 2017.
  11. Jones, Trefor (1996). The Watford Football Club Illustrated Who's Who. p. 68. ISBN 0-9527458-0-1.
  12. "Where are they now?". wfc.net. Retrieved 23 June 2010.
  13. "Officers celebrate long service awards". St Albans & Harpenden Review. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  14. "Watford Football Club archive 1881–2017 – Seasons – 1970/71 to 1979/80" (PDF). pp. 9–10. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  15. "Watford Football Club archive 1881–2017 – Seasons – 1980/81 to 1989/90" (PDF). p. 1. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  16. "Keith Cassells's Matches For Peterborough – UpThePosh! The Peterborough United Database". www.uptheposh.com. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
  17. White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. pp. 397–398. ISBN 0951526200.
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