In January 1976, Rodney Marsh stepped off a private jet here in Tampa and thought to himself: 'This is the life for me.'

Today, at 75, his perspective is untouched. The sun is shining, bouncing off the bay's crystal waters, the city is alive and, as for the cocktails, well they are 'out of this world'. To twist the final word of a famous anecdote involving his great friend George Best, 'Where did it all go right?'.

There is, then, something of an irony in Marsh's day job — as co-host of a radio show called The Grumpy Pundits.

Rodney Marsh lives in Florida with wife of 53 years, Jean, as well as his three grandchildren

'Do I look grumpy?' he asks. The once long blond hair is short and grey, but that mischievous grin remains. He looks just fine to me.

We meet for lunch at the plush Brio Tuscan Grille, less than a mile from the same airport where he first touched down before joining Tampa Bay Rowdies and the glitz and glamour of the North American Soccer League.

'I'd fallen out with Manchester City and was in the States to sign for Los Angeles Aztecs, who Elton John was going to buy. He wanted me and George Best in the same team and flew me over on a private plane. I watched him in concert at the Dodger Stadium but then got a call asking if I'd speak to Tampa.

'When I arrived there were hundreds of fans, although I think it was rent-a-crowd to be honest. It was all to 'wow' me — and it did!

'The NBC guy then asked, "We've heard you're the white Pele?". I said, "No, he's the black Rodney Marsh!".'

One of the game's great entertainers on and off the pitch, the former England, Fulham, QPR and City maverick retains that sense of devilment. The waiter informs us the lobster is not available. 'Should we go to a restaurant instead?' Marsh jokes, although the humour is perhaps lost on our host.

Marsh pictured playing for Tampa Bay Rowdies in 1979, where he would eventually retire

'That comment about Pele caused a bit of a furore,' he continues. 'Some said it had racial undertones. Nothing of the sort. I'd grown up in east London, black or white was all the same to me. Thankfully, most took it in the cheeky nature intended and it made headlines — not that Pele was impressed.'

Nor was he too enamoured when, during Tampa's 5-1 win over New York Cosmos, Marsh began showboating at the Brazilian's expense. 'There's a great photograph of me kneeling in front of the ball saying to him, "Come and get it".'

How did Pele take that?

'Not well. He came running over, ruffled my hair and dug his thumb right in my ear. But here's a secret about that game.

'When Cosmos landed we had a couple of girls waiting with a bottle of Chivas Regal and a limousine for Pele and Giorgio Chinaglia (the famous Italy striker). We didn't see them again until kick-off the following day! So that may have given us an edge…'

Marsh lives here in Florida with his wife of 53 years, Jean. 'She's my rock, always has been. I once had to sign the underwear of 12 cheerleaders for a charity auction, while they were wearing it.

'It was terrible, took me two-and-a-quarter hours… But I've been with the same girl since the start. Not many can say that.'

Marsh has American citizenship, as do his three grandchildren, and says: 'I'm so lucky they all live here. Addison, my 12-year-old grandson, he loves his soccer.'

Does he know all about his famous grandad? 'Here's something that made me smile. As part of an exchange programme, his friend from Spain was here recently, a big Real Madrid fan.

'I took everyone out for dinner. Addison asked me to tell them about my career. Great. "I played for England, Man City, scored hundreds of goals, played with George Best and Pele, played in America".

'I said, "Why do you ask?" They said, "Well, we googled you yesterday and the first thing that comes up is: Rodney Marsh sacked by Sky Sports!"'

Ah, that. It was in 2005 that Marsh made a joke live on Soccer Saturday about David Beckham not wanting to sign for Newcastle because of trouble with the 'Toon Army in Asia', a reference to the tsunami of weeks earlier.

'I didn't mean any harm,' says Marsh. 'It was just a funny line about David not being very clever. And I've never told anyone this — I was actually told that gag by a producer at Sky Sports.'

His style of play and ability to entertain did not fit with England manager Alf Ramsey's team

So does he feel an injustice?

'You see what people have done since and kept their job there... Anyway, it is what it is, you move on. Carrying any hurt with you in life is just draining.'

So what would Marsh prefer Google to remember him for?

After a lengthy debate, we settle on this — as a footballer who entertained.

'A lot of people said to me I thought I was the star and the other 21 were extras. That sounds arrogant but it was true. I did think that. I was wrong, I know that now, but that's the way I played. Every time someone says to me, "I fell in love with football because of you", I think, "That'll do".'

He takes us back to Fulham and his breakthrough as an 18-year-old, so long ago, we joke, that the only footage is in black and white. Marsh, though, was all about colour.

'The manager at Fulham, Vic Buckingham, said, "If you're going to play like that I might as well go to Billy Smart's Circus and sign a clown". I said, "You don't need any more with this f***ing lot".'

Marsh was soon headed for third-tier QPR, scoring a wonderful solo goal in the 1967 League Cup final as they beat top-flight West Bromwich Albion 3-2.

That trophy would be the only major honour of his career. Not that Marsh would have thought so when he joined Manchester City for a club record £200,000 in March 1972, with Malcolm Allison's side four points clear at the top of Division One.

History has it that Marsh cost them the title? 'It's true,' he says, refuting the suggestion that City's players used him as a scapegoat. 'If they hadn't signed me they would have won the league.

'I upset the balance of the team. I know half of them piled into me when I left — Mike Doyle, Joe Corrigan, Dennis Tueart. It was a different one in the News of the World every week! But it doesn't bother me, it's almost 50 years ago.

'Saying that, I went to a dinner in Manchester recently and the first question was, "Did you cost Man City the league?". I think supporters are split on it, half still love me.'

Sportsmail's Craig Hope sat down with Marsh to discuss his life in and out of football

The Gallagher brothers of Oasis fame were clearly fans, with Marsh and Best both appearing on the Definitely Maybe album cover. Liam, quite eloquently, once said of Marsh: 'He's f***ing amazing.'

'I eventually met Liam on a talk show. By this point I've realised the album is one of the greatest selling of all time. I asked him, "When am I getting my f***ing royalties?" He laughed. I still haven't had a penny!'

Marsh's ready wit has always run parallel to the off-the-cuff nature of the player.

He needed that improvisation during a Twitter row with Joey Barton, who called Marsh a 'washed-up former player full of hatred' who 'peaked over 40 years ago in Division Two'.

But Marsh won the war of words by posting a picture of himself as City captain, shaking hands with Barcelona's Johan Cruyff in the Nou Camp.

'He was trying to say I'd achieved nothing. I thought, "Hold on a minute". So I sent him that picture and asked, "At your age I was captaining City against Barcelona and playing for England. You?".'

Marsh may have used his nine England caps as a source of pride on that occasion, but our discussion reveals only regret and frustration.

'Alf Ramsey only played me because of public pressure,' he says. 'He once said to me, "You have all the talent in the world, but it means nothing without hard work. I want you to play like Geoff Hurst". Geoff played the exact opposite to me, hold-up play, flick-ons. I got the ball and beat people.

'I thought, "That's the end of my England career", and it was. Playing for England under Alf was a waste of time. Under a different manager, I would have had 100 caps.'

We leave talk of Marsh's friendship with Best until retiring to the sun terrace for a coffee, in part because his own battle with alcohol needs exploring in doing so.

The pair became pals across the Manchester divide, were opponents and social buddies in America and then team-mates during a final fling at Fulham, where one game against Hereford remains the stuff of legend.

The two became great friends across the Manchester divide and remained so until Best's death

'We had some fun that day. We were dribbling around their players and tackling each other,' recalls Marsh. 'I was back at Fulham recently and a teenage lad started talking to me about it. I love that.'

As the years passed, Marsh and Best would discuss legacy, invariably over a drink. 'He'd always say to me, "Forget all the Miss Worlds and all that b******s, I just want to be remembered as the greatest player who ever lived".'

On November 25, 2005, Best died aged 59 as a result of organ failure caused by alcoholism. Marsh had visited him in hospital that morning.

'I woke up and had a feeling I needed to see him. He was in a coma. I just held his hand and whispered in his ear, "You were the greatest player who ever lived".'

We pause. But I need to ask — why was it Best on his death bed and not him?

'You never really beat it, you know, it's always there,' he says.

'You don't choose to be an alcoholic. It's a disease. But after September 4, 1979, I never went over the edge again. It was my daughter's 10th birthday. I had a bad back and went to see a specialist. He asked me what I drank. A lot.

'He told me, "Your liver is one-and-a-half times the size it should be. If you don't stop, you'll die".

'I went home that day and chucked the lot in the trash. For one year I didn't touch it. I lost that desire. Now, and ever since that day, I'm in total control.'

With life this good, Marsh has every reason to stay so.