62-cap international was cruelly robbed of Ipswich Town chance - Charlton Athletic & Bolton Wanderers witnessed his class | OneFootball

Ipswich thought they'd landed a coup when they took South African international Mark Fish on loan, but his time with them only lasted 45 minutes.

When Ipswich Town found themselves short of defensive cover at the start of the 2005-06 season, they were relieved to be able to bring in an experienced defender as a replacement on loan.

Mark Fish had first been brought to Europe by Lazio in 1996 but was only in Rome for a year before Bolton Wanderers took him to the Premier League. Bolton were relegated at the end of his first season with the club, but he stayed until 2000, becoming something of a cult hero among supporters.

But the club couldn't agree terms over a new contract with him, and he left for Charlton Athletic in 2000 for £700,000 with a bad taste having been left in the mouth over a falling-out with the Trotters' manager, Sam Allardyce. He stayed with Charlton for the next five years, making over 100 appearances for them.

Mark Fish looked like an excellent choice for Ipswich to loan

At the very start of the 2005-06 season, Ipswich Town needed defensive cover. Having finished the previous season in third place in the Championship, they were among the favourites to win promotion, and started their season with a 1-0 win against Cardiff City.

But when they lost defender Jason De Vos to injury, they needed more cover at short notice and Fish, who'd just been made available, fitted the bill.

This was, after all, a player who had made over 200 appearances in the Premier League and Championship for Bolton and Charlton, but who'd fallen out of favour at The Valley, making just seven appearances for Charlton throughout the 2004-05 season.

He was also an accomplished international player, having won the 1996 African Cup of Nations with South Africa on the way to making 62 appearances for his country.

Fish's Ipswich debut turned out to be the end of his playing career

Fish's debut for Ipswich came just a day after the announcement of his arrival, with a trip back to London to play Queens Park Rangers.

But his Ipswich debut turned out to be his only appearance in an Ipswich shirt, and it didn't even last for 90 minutes. QPR were already a goal up shortly before half-time when Fish collided with the QPR striker Paul Furlong. Rangers scored a second goal shortly afterwards and led 2-0 at the interval, but Fish didn't return for the second half. Rangers ended up winning the match 2-1.

Fish's injury turned out to be career-ending. He'd suffered a severe cruciate ligament injury which effectively ended his Ipswich loan and, having first announced his retirement from the game in August 2005, an attempt to return to the game back in South Africa with Jomo Cosmos, the club at which he'd started his career, in 2007 failed because fitness levels were insufficient.

Ipswich also arguably paid for the cruel injury that ended Fish's career. Having started the 2005-06 season among the favourites for promotion back to the Premier League, they ended in 15th place in the table, some 19 points off so much as a play-off place. Football is a game of fine margins, and this turned out to be a loan that didn't do anybody any good.