Johnny King, a legendary Stoke City goalscorer, has died at the age of 92.
King came through the ranks at Crewe Alexandra but it was at the Victoria Ground where his career really took off when he was signed in 1953 to spearhead the club's bid to get back into the top flight.
He built up a near-telepathic partnership up front with George Kelly, who had been signed from Aberdeen, in a double act known as the K-Plan as Frank Taylor’s Stoke tried to win promotion. He would spend eight seasons as a regular, hitting double figures in seven of them.
“George was a good player, not very fast, but he was a goal poacher,” King later recalled. “He hardly scored a goal from more than three yards.”
At some point, stories then started to emerge that King and Kelly teamed up at tennis and were such an effective duo that they almost qualified for the doubles at Wimbledon. It still says as much with a quick search on the internet.
“No, there is nothing in that. I was no good at tennis,” King would later admit to the Sentinel.
So where did the story come from?
Mischievous King said: “Well, I don’t know... but it might have been me.”
A striker as good as he was, however, can get away with almost anything. After all, he scored five hat-tricks in Stoke colours, including two in the 1954/55 season when he believed he was at the peak of his powers.
He said: “I scored a hat-trick against Bury on Christmas Day, a game which we won 3-2 but the one I remember best is one at Nottingham Forest earlier in the season, which included two penalties. I lived in Nantwich at the time and by the time I got home all my folks were in bed, but my dad had left a note which said, ‘Well done son’.”
King scored 179 goals and played in 543 games in all and was never booked. He, like Kelly, eventually joined Cardiff and he spent one season in the top division before returning to play for Crewe after leaving Cardiff. By the time he hung up his boots in 1967, he told the Sentinel that he had played at every ground in the top four divisions except three; Northampton, Swindon and West Bromwich Albion.
The vast majority of his goals came from his left foot, with his head and right foot rarely employed.
“I was very good with the outside of my foot,” he later recalled. “When I was growing up I only had a tennis ball to play with and had to become good with the outside of my left foot. I never kicked a football until I was 15. This helped me as it kept my shots low – it is really difficult to hit the ball over the top with the outside of your foot.
“I was the penalty taker too and I always felt I would never miss. I hit them with the outside of my left foot to the goalkeeper’s right. I didn’t miss a penalty until my 14th. After the match, Stoke chairman, Albert Henshall, came into the dressing room moaning that we couldn’t even score penalties now!
“My hardest opponents were the unknowns, like Peter Madden at Rotherham, who wouldn’t let me get a kick. The big names, like Jack Charlton, I could take the micky out of and loved playing against them, but it was the unknowns I struggled with.
“I have lots of fond memories of my time at Stoke. I scored the other goal against Lincoln City in 1957 when Tim Coleman got seven, but my favourite is the marathon cup tie against Bury.”
The 1955 third-round FA Cup tie between Stoke and Bury holds the record for the longest ever played. After a first match at Gigg Lane, replays were held at the Victoria Ground, Goodison Park and Anfield before Stoke won 3-2 at Old Trafford.
“We took four replays to go through and eventually won in extra time at Old Trafford,” said King, who scored three goals during the marathon. “I remember Don Ratcliffe lying on the goalkeeper when we scored the winning goal, but the ref didn’t give a foul.”
He added: "I was only 29 (when I left Stoke for Cardiff). I would gladly have stayed, but it didn’t happen, I didn’t sign a new contract and the next thing I heard was First Division Cardiff were in for me. But as soon as I started training with Cardiff I knew I was over the hill. My legs had gone since the end of the previous season.”
He went on to run a betting shop and act as an ad-hoc ball boy for local teams around Crewe. Even now, only four players have ever scored more goals for Stoke City: Charlie Wilson, Frank Bowyer, Freddie Steele and John Ritchie.
