January 30 – A Hero is Born | On This Football Day

January 30 – A Hero is Born

THERE was a time, long long ago, when the top four clubs in the land did not win every single trophy in sight, and not every season began with a depressing air of inevitability hanging over it.

Yes it is time for a bit of old-fashioned ‘it’s not like the old days’ chat here at OTFD as we remember a team from outside the top-flight who won the FA Cup, and a footballer who scored the winner in the final yet ended up working in a cafe until he died.

Bobby Stokes was born in this day in 1951 in (whisper it very quietly) Portsmouth. He slipped through the net at Pompey and was signed up by Saints as an apprentice in 1966.

Always a talented player, Stokes’ goalscoring form was actually fairly mediocre during his time at the Dell but when he did score he certainly picked his moment.

In 1976 under Lawrie McMenemy second division Saints reached the FA Cup final where they would play highly-fancied first division opposition in the shape of Tommy Docherty’s Manchester United.

Saints were holding their own against their famous opponents and would stun them in the 83rd minute when Stokes latched on to a Jim McCalliog pass from midfield and fired past Alex Stepney in the United goal to win the cup for the Saints and become a hero in Southampton forever.

Stokes won a car for being the scorer of the first goal in the final and legend has it that he had started taking driving lessons prior to the match fully expecting that he would score first.

Stokes’ goal secured Southampton’s one and only cup triumph and it remains the only major trophy the club has ever won.

Little Bobby would only play one more season for the Saints after that, before making the move to their hated rivals and his home town club of Portsmouth. The Pompey fans never accepted Stokes after his heroics for their arch enemies and he left after just one season going to America to play for the Washington Diplomats before he retired.

Unlike the millionaires of today, Stokes had to work for a living long after he retired from the game and spent his final working days in a cafe in Portsmouth. He died in 1995 after contracting pneumonia during a round of golf aged just 44.

Here is Bobby scoring that famous goal in 1976 wearing Saints’ second strip of yellow and blue. As ever, we will be back tomorrow so make sure you are.