Peter Marinello (born 20 February 1950) is a Scottish former footballer.

Career

Hibernian

Marinello started his career at Hibernian, and could play either as a centre forward or right winger. He was regarded as being talented enough there that he was dubbed "the next George Best" by the British press.

Arsenal

In January 1970, a month before his 20th birthday, he joined Arsenal for £100,000, a club record fee at the time. The acquisition of Marinello also marked the first time that Arsenal had paid a six-figure sum for a player. He went on to score on his debut against Manchester United at Old Trafford on 10 January 1970. However, a combination of a newly adopted 'celebrity party lifestyle' and a knee injury led to a dip in his footballing form and meant that he was not a regular in the team: he was not part of the squad for the final of Arsenal's Inter-Cities Fairs Cup triumph of 1970, but he contributed four appearances during the run, including the semi-final first leg against Ajax. He only played three matches in their 1970–71 Double-winning campaign. He subsequently played eight league matches in 1971–72 and thirteen in 1972–73. In total he played 51 matches for Arsenal, scoring 5 goals. Marinello left Arsenal in July 1973 after failing to agree a new contract.

Later playing career

He next played for Portsmouth followed by Motherwell, Canberra City, Fulham, Phoenix Inferno, Heart of Midlothian and Partick Thistle.

After playing

Though he retired a wealthy man, a failed business venture left him bankrupt in 1994. He now runs an amateur football club and lives in Bournemouth, Dorset. He released an autobiography, Fallen Idle, in 2007.

Honours