Walsall legend Chris Marsh set for day at Wembley after sepsis battle

Now he is preparing to experience one of the proudest days of his life in football when Coventry City face Luton Town at Wembley in tomorrow’s Championship play-off final.

“I wasn’t going to miss this one, was I?” chuckles Marsh, the Walsall legend who since 2018 has been kit manager for the Sky Blues and has witnessed first-hand their remarkable renaissance under his former Saddlers team-mates, Mark Robins and Adrian Viveash.

Considering how the past few weeks might have played out, the first and best news to report is Marsh is very much on the mend and sounding like his old self.

He admits to feeling just a little lethargic, partially the result of a seriously strong course of antibiotics given to treat the infection. But any weariness is easily overwhelmed by excitement at a first trip to Wembley in a professional capacity, for someone who came close to reaching the national stadium three times as a player only to fall short on each occasion.

“I played at Old Trafford and Anfield but Wembley is the big one and I never quite made it,” says Marsh. “To be going now as a staff member at a professional club is the next best thing. I honestly never thought it would happen.”

Yet the fact Marsh will be at Wembley tomorrow, or even still around at all, owes much to the diligence and persistence of Coventry club doctor Ganeshan Ramsamy.

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It was Ramsamy who on May 7 persuaded a reluctant Marsh to attend A&E for a lump which had appeared behind his ear to be assessed and then, unsatisfied with the initial diagnosis, insisted he return for a second opinion the next day.

“It was serious anyway but it could have gotten mega serious if it wasn’t for the doc,” says Marsh.

“When I first went to hospital they diagnosed a soft tissue infection. I was sat at home, still not feeling great when a few of the lads video called me from the dressing room after we drew up at Middlesbrough and qualified for the play-offs.