Most liked posts in thread: Derek Stokes

My friend and I started watching City as school boys in about 1955 and we used to pop into the T&A reading rooms after school to read back copies of the PINK editions of the Yorkshire Sports. In those days we were immersed in match reports from older editions. Years later I found he had published a paperback account of those matches we had seen together and also documented and collated later information. Derek Stokes was one of those early heroes of ours and of interest is this match report from a game we went to at VP in 1960. Unfortunately we got walloped 5-0 in the replay ay Turf Moor. R.I.P Derek

 

David Markham did the eulogy he went through his career from start to finish and he finished with "he was every bit as good as you heard he was,i know because i was there "

 

I was at the first game, we were robbed! Having beaten Everton and Bournemouth we would have played Blackburn in the next round. As I recall the Ref almost played on until Burnley equalised then blew. Bobby Webb was my hero in those days lovely right winger.

 

That is so sad. The last time I saw him he was behind the bar at Woodhall Hills Golf Club. He scored plenty of goals when playing on the wing but got even more when he moved to centre forward when John McCole went to the other side of Pudsey.

 

Along with John McCole these were my earliest City heroes R.I.P

 

As kids life was innocent then for us, we'd watch the cup final on TV and then enact our favourite players in a kick about in any nearby outside space...AND the sun was always shining!.City may not have been the most successful team to support, but looking back they were all our heroes.Amazing how many made it into the England team...Subbuteo, of course. Memories of Stokes, McCole, the Jackson brothers, Martin Bakes, Tom Flockett, John Reid and the like. Down at the old VP we used to be standing in front of the main stand and if our luck was in, me and my mate would pull a couple of birds and after the match have a bit of a canoodle over the empty stalls in the open market on our way back to town! Skipping school for the odd afternoon match,Man United and Everton I think..wonderful times they were. Stokes was fairly prolific in his time as was McCole but with 34 in 43 appearances the best was by the great David 'Bronco' Layne in '61.

 

Just read the thread sad news as many Derek Stokes, John Reid, John McCole, David "Bronco" Layne were all players during my early City days.
Derek Stokes R.I.P

 

I went to both games,
A number 1 memory of mine

 

Also one of my all time faves. Wing or centre forward, he always came up with goals..a really likeable chap.RIP Derek and thank you for leaving us happy memories.

https://www.printfriendly.com/p/g/3nESbh

 

A great favorite of mine, great memories
Thanks, RIP Derek

 

One of my favourites from the 1960's.

I remember when we transferred him to Dundalk, I was gutted.

R.I.P big guy

 

Derek had a brilliant 59-60 season when he scored in every round of the FA Cup- 10 in total before the replay defeat to Burnley.

Thanks for the memories RIP.

 

Sad news, was one of my favourite players.I was introduced to him following a match in the
late 50's,I would have been about 10 years old,at the time,and it was when city,and avenue
were in the 3rd division north.I was taken to watch city,and avenue, on alternate weeks.

R.I.P. Derek.

 

Funny,I was just thinking about him the other day after someone on here was talking about links between City and Huddersfield,one of my all time City favourites,RIP Derek.

 

My dad used to wax lyrical about the replay and how many cars were on the road to Burnley full of City fans. The way he spoke about it the attendance must have been 100,000 plus, Bradford must have been empty and the traffic must have been like the final scene from "Field Of Dreams" where there is a queue of cars about 20 miles long with everyone coming to see Kevin Costner's Baseball field and the dead players he had awoken to play in it.

 

.....with Johnny Simm on the left, what a pair of wingers they were WW!!

 

Yes I remember Jimmy Mcilroy saying it wasn't fit for playing football and he would never play at Valley Parade again, but he did in a reserve game where I reminded him of his previous comment he smiled with that Irish twinkle in his eye.

 

Yes indeed Park. In my then young mind he was average as a left winger but quite a revalation at CF. Think his son was/is a gk coach and played local leagues. RIP

 

Bang on…….childhood revisited, with my dad in the Bradford End….stood on an Orange box so I could see!