Bobby Stokes: The Man from Portsmouth Who Scored Southampton's Most Famous Goal - Softcover

"The author provides a vivid overview of the Southampton hero. There is nothing to remind you of him at St Mary's Stadium, but maybe this book might form the beginnings of some kind of lasting memorial." --Programme Monthly

"Mark Sanderson's motivation in writing his book seem to have been primarily to make sure a noteworthy career is properly remembered. Based on interviews with 57 figures from within football who knew him well, he presents a positive picture that might seem out of kilter with what you would assume to be a sorry end." --Backpass magazine

"But how did a Portsmouth fan end up playing for his team's arch rivals? And how did Bobby go from appearing in front of 50,000 adoring fans to playing in the Sussex County League within 12 months before passing away at a tragically young 44 before his testimonial match had even been played? Mark Sanderson delves into the life of a mostly forgotten hero." --The League Magazine

"How did a Paulsgrove-born Pompey supporter end up scoring a cup final winning goal for his boyhood team's fierce local rivals? Mark Sanderson has answered that, along with many other questions, in this book." --The Southern Daily Echo

"Patron Saint. He never learnt to drive the Ford Granada he won for scoring the Cup final winner, continuing to catch the train to Southampton from Southsea." --When Saturday Comes feature

"Southampton Football Club has been crying out for a book of this nature for years. Riveting reading, once I picked it up I could not put it down. If you buy one football book this year, then buy this one, it's written in a style that keeps your attention, it's written with passion and an eye for detail, it's a warts and all story and it needed to be told." --The Ugly Inside

"Bobby Stokes despatched a shot past the diving Alex Stepney in United's goal, earning Southampton the 1976 FA Cup and writing his name into folklore. The author of a new book on his life lifts the lid on his story." --Lewis Coombes, BBC South Today

"It was a goal that sparked wild celebrations at Wembley, the streets of Southampton, and then in Portsmouth. Bobby Stokes started and ended his life in Portsmouth, but became a Southampton legend, leading to this book." --Andrew Pate, ITV Meridian Tonight

"Sanderson writes well, with obsessive passion and affection for his subject but it is the extent of his research that makes this book so agreeable. There are no significant living figures whom he has not interviewed. A nice book about a nice man playing for a nice club." --Soccerama

"It's not often you are told the tale of an FA Cup Final winner who crossed that yawning chasm between Portsmouth and Southampton. Perhaps Mark will be the next person to tear down a part of the divide between the two cities. Although it seems he'll settle for writing books about those who do." --The News/Portsmouth.co.uk

"What shines through is how riddled with insecurity Stokes was even though others had the utmost faith in his qualities both as a player and a person. Subtle, plenty of insight. By the end of the book you begin feeling a real sympathy for how his life turned out. Supporters of Southampton and Portsmouth alike should enjoy this book. --TheFootballPink.net

"Thoroughly enjoyed the book." --Fred Dinenage, presenter of ITV Meridian Tonight

"Lovingly recorded. It is a biography that has been written with sympathy, affection and respect by a man who has a light and deft touch with words and possesses an immense knowledge of his subject. Highly recommended" --Greville Waterman, BFCTalk

"A fitting tribute to the man who scored the winning goal that day and of football in a very different era. A timely reminder of the issues that players face once their playing days are over, then and now." --FootballBookReviews.com

He's the man whose goal delivered Southampton's only major trophy in 130 years and counting. Bobby Stokes's winning goal in the 1976 FA Cup Final marked an unforgettable 11-second sequence of play for Saints fans, but just how did a Portsmouth-born Pompey supporter end up scoring a cup-winning goal for his boyhood team's hated, local rivals? Bobby Stokes: The Man from Portsmouth Who Scored Southampton's Most Famous Goal answers this question and so many others. Such as, what led him to leave Saints just a year after his glory? Why did he swap the glamour of the US League and crowds of 50,000-plus in New York for the grass roots of the Sussex County League? How did he end up waiting tables in a Portsmouth cafe? And, why, less than 20 years on from that historic May afternoon, did he end up dying in poverty in 1995 at the tender age of just 44 - shortly before his testimonial match was due to take place at the Dell? This book takes a long overdue look at the life of Bobby Stokes, answers those questions and tells the story of a legendary figure in Southampton's history and the man who scored the club's most-famous goal.