Robert William Thomas Stokes (30 January 1951 – 30 May 1995) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

, best known for scoring the winning goal in the 83rd minute of the

FA Cup Final The FA Cup Final is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...

for

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

. Born in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

, Stokes spent the majority of his playing career at Southampton. He also had spells at

, Washington Diplomats,

Dartford Dartford is the principal town in the Borough of Dartford, Kent, England. It is located south-east of Central London and is situated adjacent to the London Borough of Bexley to its west. To its north, across the Thames Estuary, is Thurrock in ...

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, ...

, Chichester City,

Waterlooville Waterlooville is a town in the Borough of Havant in Hampshire, England, approximately north northeast of Portsmouth. It is the largest town in the borough. The town had a population of 64,350 in the 2011 Census. It is surrounded by Purbrook, ...

, Whitchurch United and Petersfield United before retirement.

Club career

Early career

Stokes was born in

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

in September 1966 as an apprentice, turning professional in February 1968. He struggled to get into the first team as a young player but made his debut on 7 April 1969, scoring twice against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

. He continued to impress in the next few years, despite suffering relegation in 1974 with the team and missed only one game that season.

1976: FA Cup Final year

The year would be remembered for Saints reaching the

FA Cup final The FA Cup Final is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...

. Stokes had an average league campaign that season, scoring just eight goals and he nearly left The Dell before the cup final as part of an exchange deal with Portsmouth for

Paul Went Paul Frank Went (12 October 1949 – 4 January 2017) was an English footballer who played professionally for five clubs over a fifteen-year period. He was one of that generation who bridged the gap between terminological eras, beginning his care ...

. However, Stokes changed his mind and stayed. In a 1977 Topical Times article, he stated "a local transfer was just what I didn't want". Stokes scored against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

in the fourth round in a 3–1 victory. In the fifth round, Saints were drawn against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

and were forced to put out a significantly weakened team because of a sickness bug which affected many of the first team. Although Stokes was one of the players', he scored a late equaliser in the game to draw it 1–1. Saints subsequently won the replay and Southampton's place in the final was sealed with a 2–0 semi-final defeat of Crystal Palace. Southampton faced

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

in the final. Stokes scored the only goal of the game, placing his shot accurately into the corner of the net past

Alex Stepney Alexander Cyril Stepney (born 18 September 1942) is an English former association football, footballer who was Manchester United F.C., Manchester United's goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper when they became the first English club to w ...

in the United goal. Initial thoughts were that he was offside but replays indicate that he was not. The result remains Saints' highest success as a club. He won a new car for scoring the first goal in the cup final but he was the only non-driver in the squad and still lived with his parents.

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 The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third tier ...

to join their South Coast rivals, and his hometown club,

. At the age of 26, Stokes moved over to the US to play for Washington Diplomats. He played alongside fellow imports Jim Steele, his teammate in the 1976 final, Tommy O'Hara,

Wim Jansen Wilhelmus Marinus Antonius "Wim" Jansen (; 28 October 1946 – 25 January 2022) was a Dutch professional association football, football player and manager. As a midfielder or defender (association football), defender, he spent most of his caree ...

and

Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff (25 April 1947 – 24 March 2016), internationally known as Johan Cruyff (), was a Dutch professional Association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. Regarded as one of the greatest ...

. Over the next two years, he would spend his summers in Washington whilst spending his winters on loan to English non-league clubs

in 1978 and

in 1979. Upon returning to England he later played non-league football with Chichester City,

, Whitchurch United and Petersfield United before retiring from playing.

After football

Besides a brief stint with Old Simmarians, there was no move into coaching or management for Stokes. By 1981, Stokes was running the Manor House pub in Cosham. He took an active interest in

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

and remained a popular and well respected figure all along the south coast. The pub was not a success though and Stokes took a job in the Harbour View Cafe belonging to his cousin down at The Hard in Portsmouth. In 1994, he was granted a testimonial year by Southampton FC. He died on 30 May 1995, aged 44, after contracting bronchial

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

, on the same day as

Ted Drake Edward Joseph Drake (16 August 1912 – 30 May 1995) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he first played for Southampton but made his name playing for Arsenal in the 1930s, winning two league titles and an FA Cup, as well ...

, another footballer who started his professional career at Southampton. He has been honoured by having one of the luxury hospitality suites at the

St Mary's Stadium St Mary's Stadium is a seated but also safe-standing football stadium in Southampton, Hampshire, England, which has been the home stadium of club Southampton since 2001. The stadium has a capacity of 32,384 and is currently the largest footbal ...

named after him, and Stokes Court, one of the buildings on the site of Southampton's former ground, The Dell.

Honours

Southampton *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

: 1975–76

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

NASL stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stokes, Bobby 1951 births 1995 deaths People from Paulsgrove English men's footballers Portsmouth F.C. players Footballers from Portsmouth Southampton F.C. players Cheltenham Town F.C. players Washington Diplomats (NASL) players Waterlooville F.C. players Dartford F.C. players Whitchurch F.C. players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Deaths from bronchopneumonia Deaths from pneumonia in England Men's association football forwards English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States English expatriate men's footballers English Football League players 20th-century English sportsmen