his debut three days later, a 1–1 league draw at home to Crystal Palace. However, his time with the side was beset by injuries, with him registering only 8 goals over 40 league appearances in two years. Cascarino signed for Marseille as a free agent in 1994. He ended as top scorer in the 1994–95 Ligue 2 season with 31 goals as the club won the league title but were prevented from promotion to Ligue 1 due to an ongoing investigation into financial irregularities and match-fixing scandals involving then-president Bernard Tapie. Cascarino, nicknamed "Tony Goal" by the Marseille Ultras, repeated the feat the following season, scoring 30 goals as the club were promoted back to Ligue 1. In December 1996 he signed for fellow Ligue 1 side Nancy, scoring a hat-trick in his second appearance, a 1–3 away win at Le Havre. The side were relegated to Ligue 2, but Cascarino would win the title and promotion in his first full season with the club the next year. Cascarino holds the Ligue 1 record for oldest player to score a hat-trick, which he did while playing for Nancy in a 3–0 win over Stade Rennais at age 37 years and 31 days. In May 2000 he was awarded the Medaille d'Or by the city of Nancy in recognition of his contribution to the side. Cascarino ended his career with Red Star 93 in the third tier of French football, but terminated his contract with the club in August 2000 after just two appearances. He was offered a contract to return to Nancy but refused. International career Cascarino, who was born in England, represented the Republic of Ireland—qualifying through his adopted Irish grandfather, Michael O'Malley, who was from Westport, County Mayo. He was also eligible to play for both Scotland and Italy because of his Scottish and Italian descent. He made his international debut against Switzerland in September 1985, during Ireland's ill-fated qualification campaign for the 1986 World Cup. Cascarino would go on to feature for Ireland in three major tournaments: Euro 1988, the 1990 World Cup and the 1994 World Cup. His last international game came against Turkey in late 1999, as Ireland failed to reach UEFA Euro 2000. He got into a brawl with a Turkish defender and left the pitch showing the scars of battle. This marked the end of an international career which had spanned 14 years