- Know any others ??! Let me know and I'll
include them on this page.
October
2002
Len Cantello (West Bromwich Albion)
Thanks to
Jo Cantello for sending this information.
Hello there,
was just looking through your website and saw
your listing for Len Cantello. Thought you might like
an update, as the info you've got is quite a few
years out of date.
For the past
four years or so, Len's been working as the
UK sports consultant for a Canadian company
called Fieldturf, who make artificial football
pitches for a lot of the premiership
sides' training facilities.
Best wishes,
Jo
The Sunday
Times 13 October, 2002, included the following in
their regular 'Caught in Time' feature ...
'Stoke
win the League Cup in 1972'
Terry
Conroy, (Stoke City) a flying redhaired winger for Stoke City,
has fond memories of Saturday, March 4, 1972. It was
the day the second-oldest Football League club
finally won a trophy.
It was
also the day Conroy's one-man raids kept his team in
the League Cup final against Chelsea. "I enjoyed
the wide expanse of Wembley," he recalls.
"Chelsea might have felt hard done by because
they shaded us, but our name was on the cup."
The Potters battled through the early rounds to reach
the semifinals. "We lost at home to West Ham in
first leg of the semis and thought that was it,"
Conroy remembers.
But
Gordon Banks saved a penalty three minutes from the
end of extra time in their win at Upton Park to take
the tie to a replay. After a 0-0 draw at
Hillsborough, the marathon was settled with Stoke's
3-2 win at Old Trafford, seven weeks after the first
game and after 420 minutes of drama.
Conroy opened the scoring in the final with a header,
but Chelsea took control and Peter Osgood equalised.
A Conroy attack in the second half was finished by
George Eastham, whose winner secured Stoke their
first silverware in 109 years.
1 Mike Bernard (Stoke City)
A ball-winning midfielder, Bernard did not shirk
tackles, and in 1970 became the fIrst Stoke player to
be shown a red card. He was signed by Everton after
the final. He lives in Swindon where he is a painter
and decorator.
2 Alan Bloor (Stoke City)
Teamed up with Denis Smith to form a formidable
centre-back partnership. Bloor, known at
"Bluto", spent 18 years at the club, making
470 appearances. He moved to Port Vale, where he
became manager.
After retiring from football, he went into the carpet
business at Longton and then ran a news agency near
Stoke. He has since retired.
3 Mike Pejic (Stoke City)
A local lad who progressed through the ranks, Pejic
was a full-back who enjoyed great success at the
Victoria Ground. He played in 336 games before moving
to Everton for 135,000 pounds in February 1977 and
then, to Aston Villa. A groin injury forced him into
retirement in 1980 after winning four caps for
England. He coached Port Vale, managed Chester and
returned to Stoke as coach in 1995. He is now an
assessor of regional football coaches who test for
coaching badges.
4 Jimmy Greenhoff (Stoke City)
A clinical marksman, Greenhoff was an important
acquisition for Stoke manager Tony Waddington, who
signed him from Birmingham for a club-record 100,000
pounds in 1969. In seven years at Stoke, he scored
101 goals in 338 games. He moved to Manchester United
in 1976, where he won an FA Cup medal. He had spells
at Crewe, Toronto Blizzard and Port Vale before
becoming player-manager of Rochdale. After a spell in
insurance, he now works in a factory in Stoke
manufacturing wallpaper.
5 Gordon Banks (Stoke City)
Regarded as one of the world's greatest goalkeepers,
Banks was the rock on which Stoke built their
defence.
He won the World Cup with England in 1966, a year
before joining Stoke from Leicester for 52,000
pounds.
Banks, who won 73 England caps, played 246 games for
the Potters.
His career came to a premature end when a road
accident in October 1972 cost him his sight in the
right eye. He prayed for Fort Lauderdale Strikers and
coached at Stoke and Port Vale before becoming
general manager at Telford United. He is now
president of Stoke City and a popular after-dinner
speaker.
6.Tony Waddington (Stoke City manager)
He will go down in history as Stoke's finest manager.
Waddington spent 17 years at the helm and
favoured a passing game that saw the club enjoy its
most successful era. He had a gift for reviving the
careers of ageing stars whom he brought to the club
in their playing twilight. He signed 46-year-old
Stanley Matthews from Blackpoo to spark Stoke's rise
to success.
Waddington left the club when it was relegated in
1977, but returned to become an associate director in
1993. He died a year later.
7 George Eastham (Stoke City)
Eastham was an attacking midfielder whose career
started in Ireland and took him to Newcastle and
Arsenal. He signed for Stoke in August 1966 and
played in 239 games. He took over as manager from
Waddington in March 1977, but left 10 months later.
He is retired and lives in South Africa.
8 Jackie Marsh (Stoke City)
Part of the no-holds-barred Stoke defence, Marsh
enjoyed his role as
an attacking full-back during his long spell at the
club. He played in 65 of the club's 67 matches in the
1971-72 season. Marsh is retired, lives in Stoke and
is a regular visitor to the club.
9 John Mahoney (Stoke City)
A hard-working Welsh international rnidfielder,
Mahoney provided the steel in the middle of the Stoke
team that enabled Waddington to field his playmakers,
George Eastham and Peter Dobing. He was a regular in
the 1970s, but was sold to Middlesbrough in 1977 for
90,000 pounds as the club fell on hard times. When he
retired, Mahoney went into football management. He
lives in Swansea, where he manages a local team after
spells at Bangor and Newport.
10 Terry Conroy (Stoke City)
He was a natural winger who took on defenders using
his pace and brilliant dribbling skills to create
chances for teammates or to shoot with either foot
himself. Conroy, who won 27 caps for the Republic of
Ireland, joined Stoke in March 1967 and played in 333
matches, scoring 66 goals. He played in Hong Kong and
for Crewe before retiring. He was in insurance, but
three years ago moved to Stoke City's marketing
department and is a match-day host in the executive
suites.
11 Peter Dobing (Stoke City)
A ball-player who thrived under Waddington, Dobing
scored 94 goals from midfield in his 372 games. The
son of a rugby league player, Dobing was also a
cricketer, but it was in football that he made his
name. He played for Blackburn Rovers and Manchester
City before moving to the Victoria Ground. His career
ended in 1972 when he broke a leg. After 20 years in
the pottery business, Dobing retired and lives in
Stafford.
12 John Ritchie (Stoke City)
The big target man, Ritchie was a consistent
goalscorer. He netted some important goals on their
League Cup run, including an 88th minute winner in
the replay against Manchester United. His career
ended in 1974 when he broke a leg. He went into
partnership with Dobing in pottery and now runs his
own successful business in Stoke.
13 Denis Smith (Stoke City)
Smith spilled blood for Stoke City during his
distinguished career at the centre of the defence. He
suffered a broken leg five times, broke his nose four
times and his ankle and collar bone once each. He
also chipped his spine, ricked his back and had more
than 100 facial stitches inserted. Smith became a
successful manager and is now at the helm of Wrexham.
John Fallon (Celtic squad)
The
following is an extract from the regular Jim
Craig (Celtic) email sent out by Celtic ...
And before you say I haven't mentioned Rab
Douglas, well the Celtic keeper made two disastrous
errors which almost certainly cost Celtic the
match. Nobody will know that better than the
player himself and the next few weeks will not be the
most comfortable of his life.
He is not the first and probably will not be
the last Celtic keeper to find himself in that
position. John Fallon, now a
tour guide at Celtic Park, was blamed for the two
goals lost to Rangers in January 1968.
I asked him about his reaction; 'I was
disgusted with myself; I really thought the end of
the world had come.And the fans never forget
something like that; I'm still being reminded about
it. But gradually the horrors fade'.
And his advice to big Rab, 'Easier said than
done but he has to put it behind him and now play out
of his skin to get back into the fans' good books.
The manager can help a lot by giving him full
support; I hope he does so'.
Joe Royle (Everton)
I
realise we ALL know where Joe is this week (29/10/02),
but here is a profile of his career, which appears at BBC Ipswich Town The Royle files
Joe Royle was
Everton's youngest ever player when he made his debut
as a 16-year-old on 20 January 1966.
He recently lost
his record as their youngest goalscorer to English
football's new wonder boy Wayne Rooney.
Royle went on to
make 232 appearances for Everton, scoring 102 goals
and winning a title medal in 1970 and playing in the
FA Cup Final defeat against West Bromwich Albion in
1968.
He won six England
caps, leaving Everton to join Manchester City in
December 1974 for £200,000.
Royle picked a
League Cup winner's medal with City in 1976, and won
the last of his England caps the folllowing year
against Luxembourg.
He went on to play
for Bristol City and Norwich City before a knee
injury forced him to retire.
Royle took over as
Oldham Athletic boss in July 1982, losing in the
Littlewoods Cup Final to Nottingham Forest in 1990-
before guiding them into the top flight in 1991.
Oldham also reached
two FA Cup semi-finals under Royle's guidance, losing
to Manchester United on both occasions.
He achieved his
lifelong dream when he was appointed Everton manager
in 1994, succeeding the sacked Mike Walker.
Royle won the FA
Cup against Manchester United in 1995, but left
Everton by mutual consent in March 1997.
He was back in
management at Manchester City in February the
following year, eventually taking them back into the
Premiership from Division Two.
But life at Maine
Road turned sour and Royle was sacked in May 2001
after they were relegated.
He has worked as a
summariser and media analyst before his return as
manager of Ipswich Town.
Requests
Email
me if you know the answers and I'll pass your information
on
Do
you know where Frank O’Farrell is now? My mother-in
law is a friend (met him in Iran ) and she hasn’t
heard from him in awhile. Her last known address of him
was in Torquay Thanks for any help and nice web site!
Robert Cox
Hi
I don't know if you can help me or not? I am looking for
my husbands uncle Terry Hennessey. He was a Welsh footballer who
played for Birmingham City and Notts Forest, when he
could no longer play he moved to Australia and America.
I
have seen some info and a photo on your website. I was
wondering if you could give me a contact address/email/
or anything at all that would be useful to help me find
him.
Kind Regards
Amanda Carolan
Joe
Challenor replied : Terry's family keep a
pub in Brymbo Wrexham N Wales Terry is in Australia,
regards
Joe. Good site ! (thanks,
Bob)
My
name is Bob Rigby. I played from 1973-1985
in the North America Soccer League and had the good
fortune to play with many great international players
including Tommy Smith (Liverpool). I played with Smitty in Los
Angeles and actually stayed at his home for several weeks
while I was on trial at Liverpool.
I
would like to contact him however I don't know where to
begin the search. I would appreciate any support you can
extend re this matter. Thanks in advance.
Bob
Rigby
See more October 2002
news at the following ...
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