Bobby Stokes

Club career

Early career Stokes was born in Portsmouth on 30 January 1951, and was brought up in the Paulsgrove area of the city. Following a successful period of boyhood football at schoolboy and county level, he quickly became a target for a number of clubs and looked likely to sign for Portsmouth. However, he failed a trial with them and instead signed for Southampton in September 1966 as an apprentice, turning professional in February 1968. However, Stokes changed his mind and stayed. Although Stokes was one of the players, he scored a late equaliser in the game to draw it 1–1.

Southampton faced Football League First Division Manchester United in the final. Stokes scored the only goal of the game, placing his shot accurately into the corner of the net past Alex Stepney in the United goal. Initial thoughts were that he was offside but replays indicate that he was not.

Post-1976

During 1976–77, his final season with Southampton, Stokes made only 11 appearances and scored once. He left Saints with the club still in the Football League Second Division to join their South Coast rivals, and his hometown club, Portsmouth.

At the age of 26, Stokes moved over to the US to play for Washington Diplomats. In 1994, he was granted a testimonial year by Southampton FC. He died on 30 May 1995, aged 44, after contracting bronchial pneumonia, on the same day as Ted Drake, another footballer who started his professional career at Southampton.