Monday 28 March 2011

He shoots, he scores

My good friend Gary has been clearing out his loft and sent me all the early 1970s football magazines with big features on mighty Stoke City. Happy days - we won something in 1972, a mere three years before I was born…

Smith helped us to the 1972 win, and was in the Guinness Book of Records for the most injuries (including 5 broken legs). He never did play for England, but did manage a lot of teams.

Didi was right: the Dutch beat them 2-0 in a violent semi-final.


The great John Ritchie. Stoke's top scorer for many years in a row. His 171 goals have never been rivalled.

In March 1974, after a row with Southampton's Peter Osgood who criticised Ritchie's heading ability, the striker completed his hat-trick against the Saints by dribbling around keeper Eric Martin, stopping the ball on the line and kneeling to head it over!

2 comments:

Ewarwoowar said...

Excellent stuff Voley! I didn't realise there was another Bryan Robson, although I doubt he compared to the United great of the same name.

In other news, thesis intro draft - what's better for you, to e-mail it over, or bring a copy to you tomorrow?

The Plashing Vole said...

Don't do anything tomorrow - I'm teaching all day! But paper's best for me. I can't read long documents on a screen. Well done.