March 31, 2016 marks fifteen years since David Carlyle Rocastle passed away. David spent the majority of his career at Arsenal, where he earned the nickname “Rocky”.

Rocky was best known for his electrifying pace and natural footballing talent, and was an ever-present in the Arsenal side which famously won the old Division One title at Anfield in 1989. Rocky made 277 appearances for Arsenal over a 10-year period, scoring 34 goals. He also played for Leeds, Manchester City and Chelsea during a distinguished top-flight career.

Rocky passed away after a battle with non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma on the morning of March 31 2001, aged just 33. Later that day, the North London Derby took place with supporters of Arsenal and Tottenham standing united in silence to remember and respect a true gentleman of the game. It was fitting that Robert Pires, wearing Rocky’s old number 7 shirt, inspired Arsenal to victory that day.

Rocky remains a firm fans’ favourite at Arsenal, with his name still chanted at games home and away. Rocky was survived by his wife Janet, son Ryan and daughters Melissa and Monique. Six weeks after his passing, Ryan was Arsenal’s mascot in our FA Cup Final match against Liverpool.

Arsenal have celebrated Rocky’s life in various ways down the years. Five years and a day after his death, 1 April 2006 was designated “David Rocastle Day” in our final season at Highbury. Arsenal have a new youth team indoor training facility named after him, and he is currently one of 32 Arsenal legends honoured by having their images on the side of the club’s home ground, Emirates Stadium. We are unsure of the longevity of this decoration.

With this in mind we would like to petition Arsenal Football Club to erect a permanent memorial to Rocky, at the club’s home ground, in consultation with the supporters of the club. This would be somewhere the fans could visit to remember Rocky, a place where parents could bring their children on matchday to show them who Rocky was. It could be a statue, a plaque, a mural – something at our home ground to remind home and away supporters alike how much Rocky is missed by us all.

"Remember who you are, what you are, and who you represent."