‘People would see the hair and the silky touches and know he was just special’

JIMMY Greenhoff, Stoke City royalty, turns 80 today.

- Peter Smith

The blonde-haired forward with irresistible technique and a big heart became a firm Boothen End favourite after he joined from Birmingham City for a club record £100,000 in August 1969.

He went on to form brilliant partnerships with John Ritchie and Alan Hudson as one of Stoke's greatest teams won their first major silverware, challenged for the biggest trophies and twice played in the Uefa Cup. He was captain when Stoke went toe-to-toe with Ajax.

He sits seventh on the club’s all-time scorers list with 103 often beautiful goals in 346 matches over seven-and-a-half seasons - and it has always visibly pained him that he was sold, to Manchester United, in late 1976 as the Potters were in a financial crisis.

Greenhoff went on to star as Man Utd won the FA Cup in 1977, touching a Lou Macari shot home for the winning goal at Wembley Stadium against Liverpool.

Teammates from his days at Stoke - Stoke legends themselves - remain his close friends.

Terry Conroy said: “He had a very good goal scoring record at Birmingham but for some reason Birmingham thought he wasn’t scoring enough so sold him to Stoke, which turned out to be a masterstroke from Tony Waddington.